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Chapter Text

“An engagement?! ” Ranma shouted at his father, his frustration undercut by the sudden burst of rainfall that chose that exact moment to strike the busy Tokyo street he and his father had been walking down, forcing his carefully cultivated masculinity to melt down into the body of a tiny girl, and make his voice unnecessarily shrill even despite his efforts to toughen it up. “You said we were just visiting your friend! I don't recall asking you to get me engaged, old man!”

It was still surreal yelling at a panda that had once been his father, but it growled a half hearted response and continued walking, acting for all the world like any of this was normal and that he just had to get used to it.

“Don't you give me that! How is this any better than sticking around China looking for a cure?!” Ranma stomped in a forming puddle as he stopped, his now loose shoes reminding him just how much the rain stole from him. “I don't even know this chick! What if she's some dainty housewife type I ain't into?!” 

Another growl fell out of the panda as he too stopped, turning to face Ranma with the most puppy dog eyes he’d ever seen. Unfortunately, Ranma still didn't speak Panda, so unless his old man was planning on playing charades, he wasn't getting anything out of this, instead stewing on his own point in growing frustration.

“And why don't I know her anyway?! We've lived in Tokyo how many times? You telling me I've been a bus ride away from the chick I'm supposed to wine and dine for the family honor or whatever, and I never even learned her damn name?” Ranma settled into a stance with only one purpose, preparing himself to beat some sense into his father while his old man was just some useless bear that wasn't even a proper predator. “This is all a waste of time! I'm going back to China! I don't have time for engagements, I need to get my manhood back!” 

Without giving his dad a chance to respond, Ranma swung hard for a knockout blow. However, even unprepared for the attack, being a panda had made the jackass more resilient, and he had to follow it up with a barrage of kicks just to maintain momentum, sending his nice shoes flying in the process. 

Staggering under the blows, the panda nevertheless remained capable of fighting, swiping his claws and forcing Ranma to duck and dodge. Biding his time and waiting for an opening, Ranma found the time to strike, taking a blow on purpose he rebounded the momentum off of a street sign, delivering a flying kick straight to his old man’s head, finally knocking the panda out.

“Serves you right, trying to decide my future like that! Whatever, I don't need you anymore old man. I'm heading back to China, have fun explaining all of this to your friend!” Laughing triumphantly with his hands behind his head, Ranma barely had time to collect himself when he felt sudden motion behind him. 

Whatever was coming was fast, sharp, and dangerous, and he had to act on instinct. Spinning around rapidly, Ranma swung the only weapon he had in an attempt to parry, his travel pack serving as a decent bludgeon against an oncoming stop sign swung by a panda. 

Even deflected, the metal tore right through the nylon backpack, scattering all of Ranma and his dad’s precious belongings across the street. Tins of food rolled away with impressive determination, as every change of clothes, document, and map they owned got thoroughly soaked in the continued downpour.

“What'd you have to go and try to kill me for?!” shouted Ranma as his dad blinked in surprise. Taking advantage of the confusion, he wrenched the sign from his dad's grasp only to use it himself, swinging it around in a wide arc to finally at long last end the fight.

Huffing and puffing, Ranma knew his dad was just going to stand up in another five or six minutes, restarting this stupid cycle until he was the one who was knocked out and dragged to wherever the hell they were going. He meant what he'd said, he was going to fix this.

Scanning the wreckage of the fight, Ranma lamented just how little of his personal effects were still available to him. He had some money in his wallet, and that was about it. Trying to scavenge a cup of instant noodles or one of his tangzhuangs felt like a fool's errand, and would just waste precious time he could spend putting space between himself and the old man.

So he didn't even bother.

Pivoting on his heels, Ranma ran barefoot in whatever direction called out to him, acting before any passersby could hold him accountable for assaulting an endangered species. He was in Tokyo, he knew that much, all he needed to do was find a map, figure out what ward he was in, steal some stuff just like pops always taught him to do in emergencies, and get back to China by air, boat, or his own two hands if he had to. 

Riding atop the first bus he could find had sounded like a good trick in his head, but Ranma had to admit that sitting in the still pouring rain, unable to have the various stops called out to him, did little to tell him where he was going. A train station would have been ideal, riding the Shinkansen west as far as it would take him was a solid first step to ending up in Fukuoka, and from there finding a China-bound boat to stow away on would have been child's play. 

However, as the bus neared what felt like the same intersection for the second or third time since he'd gotten on, he realized abruptly that it was entirely possible he'd trapped himself in a damned loop, wasting the early morning headstart he might have had on his old man. Unable to tell whether or not he was in such a loop without sitting through the potential circuit yet again, Ranma leapt off the bus the next time it came to a halt, grumbling to himself as he once more picked a direction and started walking. 

This whole day was stupid, but as soon as he had his bearings it'd be smooth sailing back to Jusenkyo, and the guide would be pointing him towards the drowned guy pond before the week was out. All he needed was a landmark, any part of Tokyo that possibly made sense in his mind, something like a restaurant he liked to go to, a park he used to play at, or maybe his old school!

Ranma blinked repeatedly as his eyes locked onto something almost exactly like that across the street. It was Sacred Heart, a girls' junior high school he had to pass by every day on his way to and from the boys’ school he actually attended. Obviously he couldn't shelter around a bunch of girls, especially not ones any younger than him, but it was good news! That meant just north of here was the house he and pops used to rent a room out of!

The people there were kinda shady and the house was run down, but they seemed to like him the last time he was there, and they'd probably be willing to let him crash in the closet for the night in exchange for the loose coins he had on him. It was as good a plan as any, establishing a base would make it easier to collect supplies, and then he could see about getting on that bullet train going west.

Padding confidently North, Ranma smiled for the first time in the day. Things weren't really looking brighter yet, he was still stuck in a girl's body, had maybe seven hundred and twenty five yen to his name, and didn't have anyone looking out for his well being besides an old panda looking to exchange him for a warm bed, but at least he was starting to have hope he could turn this around.

Hope that was thoroughly crushed as soon as the building came into view, having become dilapidated, condemned, and halfway through deconstruction in the intervening two years since Ranma traded its protection for the trials of the road.

Well, had that protection traded for him. Moving had never been his choice! He never got to decide a damn thing on this journey, it was all about when pops wanted to leave, when his gambling debts came knocking, when he got tired of putting up with the honest life! It didn't matter whether or not Ranma liked where they were, had made any good friends, was finally starting to lay down roots and-

Friends! He'd had friends! There was going to be time for Ranma to mope about the hand of cards he'd been dealt later, he knew people near here who could lodge him for the night!

Assuming they hadn't moved, there was that tall girl who… or that nerdy girl who… well there were those guys who were kind of jerks but…

Ranma sighed. He'd had people he considered friends, but where exactly they lived was beyond him now, his infrequent visits to their homes pushed out by knowledge of Anything-Goes Shell-games, Saotome Style Theatrics, and his general issues remembering much of anything that wasn't really important. To remember these places, he would have needed to have headed to and from them with some regularity, considered it part of his routine. That really was just his house, school, and Ryoga's house at best.

The light bulb dimly flickered in his head as he kept walking, headed just three more blocks up the road. The Hibiki family, family of his dear rival Ryoga, didn't actually live that far from where he had. He'd needed to walk his rival to and from school all the time, so the route there was positively burned into his mind! It was the perfect place to go!

Though as he arrived at the front door he realized there was one very tiny problem. The Hibikis were never home, always chronically lost; he'd had to walk Ryouga around for a reason. His rival’s parents were basically a mystery to him, entities he'd met only in passing, once or twice, and never at the same time. Which added up to mean that as he knocked on the frame, not a single soul thought to answer him, ignoring even his shouts for attention.

Then again, it was probably a blessing in disguise. The house was empty and would stay that way for at least another two or three days at minimum. Crouching down, Ranma slipped his hand under the welcome mat, seamlessly extracted a spare key he remembered Ryoga needing to use once or twice, and let himself inside. 

Standing in the genkan, dripping water on the floor, Ranma could only marvel at how little the entryway had changed since he'd last been here. He knew the Hibikis weren't around often enough to warrant redecorating, besides them dropping off souvenirs, but as he took his first real step into the house, it felt like stepping back in time.

He didn't like that he was dripping all over their floor though, tracking rain, dirt, and who knew what else that would only serve as a sign of his intrusion later. He was borrowing their house, but that didn't mean he wanted to scare them or anything. First things first, he raced for their bathroom, shucking off his clothes as he went. He'd been in the rain for at least a few hours, and more than anything he wanted a nice warm bath, to feel the heat in his bones, and of course, to be a man again.

Trying to pass by the mirror without being stopped by it on his quest for hot water, Ranma failed to avoid catching a glimpse of the girl Jusenkyo had made of him, and that forced him to pause and stare despite his best intentions. 

He wasn't sure what bothered him more about the transformation, his cute as a button face that made begging for food so easy, the fifteen centimeters of height cold water liked to take from him, the center-of-gravity-upsetting way he apparently would have filled out if he'd been born this way…

Or the fact that, as he took his black hair out of its pigtail, just so he could wash it while he had the opportunity, the girl still looked like him. 

It would have been unreasonable for most people to assume he and his other side were anything more than relatives, but it meant both sides of him kinda looked like pops’ kid, and that was going to make dodging him and anybody he roped into looking for his wayward son harder.

He would need to worry about all of that later though. Right now, Ranma busied himself washing his hair and cleaning the dirt of the road off of his body as the tub filled with fresh hot water. Maybe it was selfish to draw a bath for just himself, but he deserved it, and it was how the Hibikis probably had to live anyway. He'd leave them a hundred yen coin or something as payment on his way out.

He took his sweet time showering off what remained of the grime of the road, savoring the moment despite the curse he was now afflicted with. He and pops had been traveling pretty nonstop since they made landfall back in Japan, and there hadn't really been time to hit even a public bathhouse—not that Ranma was sure he would have felt comfortable using one, considering the consequences of errant cold water around a lot of naked guys.

But, freshly rinsed and cleaned, he could partake in the moment he'd really been waiting for, sinking down in the spacious bathtub owned by the Hibikis, letting the heat suffuse his bones and kickstart the process of his whole body shifting for the second time today.

It was never a subtle process feeling literal weights fall off of his chest while his body got firmer, tougher, more rugged, but at least it was also fast, and the disorientation of shifting bones as he shot back up in height didn't last too long these days. 

Finally, after who knew how long suffering in the rain, he was himself again, and blissfully warm to boot. Ranma considered taking the time to lounge around and plan his next move, but ultimately as he sprawled out and let himself sink down in the hot water until he was practically submerged in it, he figured he deserved a little break. He'd get back to running around and planning in a minute.

Toweling off the still steaming water, Ranma had to admit that he’d needed that. It had been weeks since his last hot bath, having had to make do fighting his curse off with boiled water and a newfound tolerance for scalding himself on purpose. 

The peaceful break over, Ranma had to continue with the next phase of his plan: clothing himself. He had one outfit to his name, and he had hung it up to air dry in the bathroom, so he was going to need to borrow a few things in the meantime. 

Unless something serious had changed, Ryoga was only a little bit shorter than him, and only a little broader, so his clothes would do in a pinch while Ranma got on with planning his triumphant return to China. Clad only in a towel, Ranma followed the helpful signs on the walls and handy guides on the floor towards Ryoga's room, and-

A dog barked, freezing Ranma in his tracks and snapping his attention behind him, where a black and white dog stared at him with expectant eyes and a wagging tail. Memories of the unique vertically split coat flooded back to Ranma, and despite the urgency of his tasks he moved to pet the excited canine.

“Shirokuro! It's been too long! How are you, girl? They feeding you enough?” Ranma laughed at his joke as he stroked the sides of an old friend, recoiling back only slightly as she licked at his face. 

She looked healthy, and she certainly had energy, so she probably wasn't starving or anything, but as a kindness he made a mental note to refill her food bowls when he finished getting changed.

“I'll be right back, okay Shirokuro? Don't make too much noise and I'll get you some food.” He added, resuming his course and passing into Ryoga's room before the dog could stop him.

The room was about how he remembered, almost entirely full of souvenirs instead of any real furniture aside from the soft bed that made Ranma incredibly jealous. He'd never had better than a futon, and usually had to make due with the floor, but here his rival had a nice bed he was never even home to use!

He couldn't let himself get distracted though, and tearing himself away from the bed he knew he was going to sleep on tonight, he made his way over to Ryoga's dresser, pulling open the drawers to reveal… knick knacks, more junk, including a pile of salt water taffy alongside an English label whose sole purpose was to prove he'd really spent a week somewhere in the United States. Irritated, Ranma turned to check Ryoga's closet, which only brought him face to face with a tanuki statue Ryoga had nowhere else to put, alongside an imitation moai head. Quietly closing the closet so he never had to think about its contents again, Ranma sighed in frustration. Why the hell didn't Ryoga keep a single damn piece of clothing at home?! Was it too much to ask for his old buddy to keep a single set of emergency clothes for him?! Did he never-

Another old memory dislodged itself from the gachapon machine inside Ranma's head, and once again a confident course of action came to the front of Ranma's mind. Apparently Ryoga didn't keep spare clothes here, but Ranma had. He distinctly remembered stashing a few things in here somewhere, and it was probably for exactly an emergency like this one! Sure the clothes were gonna be a bit tight given how much he’d grown into a rugged and handsome man since he'd last been here, but they were going to be better than nothing.

Dropping to the floor, Ranma shot his hand under the bed, weaving it around the various little things Ryoga had collected over the years, until he felt his hand touch the strap of an old school bag, Slowly pulling it out, Ranma thanked himself for having the amazing foresight to include a bag in this emergency stash as well, something to replace the pack his old man had so callously slashed apart.

Setting it on the bed, Ranma set to work digging through his old things. The first outfit he tossed out looked kind of normal at first glance, but he wasn't sure why a jumper and tall socks was something he ever bothered owning. The short shorts and tank top he found next were maybe just the origins of his usual preference for underclothes, but he definitely couldn't wear them out and about as an outfit, and he wasn't sure why he ever would have tried.

Doubt filled Ranma as he grabbed onto a third bundle of cloth, and even then he was fully unprepared for the black serafuku that slowly unfolded itself in his hands, mocking him with its nature. Blinking repeatedly, Ranma's mouth hung open as he tried to find some explanation for this among his things. It was possible this was a prank by Ryoga, a bunch of girly stuff hidden where Ranma had needed boy clothes, but for all the ways they did like to fight, this kind of prank wasn't one of them. Ryoga had never made fun of Ranma for being girly, and would never have mocked Ranma for a little bit of experimentation with crossdressing…

Which Ranma knew, because that's what this was. Of all the old memories Ranma expected to accidentally dredge up coming back here, that phase where he actually tried all that girly stuff he got accused of being into anyway wasn't one of them. But it was just a phase! He'd gotten over it! Hell, he hadn't even snagged any nice cheongsams for his girl side on the way out of China, even though he knew he would have looked stellar in one! 

Ranma groaned as he dropped the girl's uniform. He couldn't wear any of this. Not only was it too small, it was all girls’ clothes! If he wanted out of this towel he was either going to need to climb back into his drenched pants, or find some magical way to get small and feminine enough to be comfortable cramming himself into these things!

He didn't have to groan a second time. Cursing whatever divine force had orchestrated this whole sick joke, he snatched the jumper and socks off the bed, walking back off to the bathroom past the patiently waiting dog that gave him a quiet bark of acknowledgement as he went. It was raining outside anyway, with his luck he was going to end up a girl no matter what if he left to grab supplies, so there wasn't any reason to fight it. At least this way fate wouldn’t need to conspire to get him soaked again. 

Thankfully, he managed to get himself to the sink and splashed before he needed to have any complex emotions about drowning his handsome mug and replacing it with cute girl yet again, whereupon he began cramming himself into his only workable outfit. Sighing as he finished, Ranma couldn't really tell if he was supposed to be more mad that that his girl side was shorter now than his guy side had been two years ago, or that despite all the extra room the size difference should have given him, the chest was still much tighter than Ranma would have liked.

Beggars couldn't be choosers though, they fit, and that was what mattered. 

His next order of business was going to be getting himself something to eat, then checking to see if that department store was still-

Shirokuro barked once again, still sitting calmly where he'd told her to wait. She was a good dog, and she was right, he'd made her a promise, he had to keep it.

Patting her on the head so she would follow, Ranma walked down the hall and to the alcove where he remembered the dog’s things were kept, and started rooting around for the open bag of food. Thankfully it wasn't hard to find, having been staged right next to Shirokuro’s four deep bowls of dry food, two which were completely empty, with a third halfway down. Keeping his promise, he topped off her bowls, and as a bribe to keep her quiet, he even opened up a tin of wet food just for her.

“Now remember, you never saw me.” Ranma laughed as he started to walk away, stroking down her back one more time as he went. Shirokuro practically nodded before she turned her attention to the food, her tail wagging with vigor and speed that would have put a few martial artists he knew to shame. 

Before he could get very far, however, her tail thumped against something solid, causing a thunderous cacophony of clattering objects that sent a wooden pole falling straight for him. Reacting automatically, he grabbed it, whipping it around and spinning it like a bo staff, though as posed with a flourish his imagination waned and he realized he was just holding a misplaced mop.

It was just like the Hibikis to accidentally leave stuff like this lying around. He didn't have their curse though, and it didn't feel right just putting it back in the wrong spot. He was going to take it back to the closet, then he could get back to his plans.

While he had intended simply to put the mop away and move on with his life, he had to pass the front of the house on his way, and the puddles of water he'd left behind nagged at his conscience. Even as a squatter, he had an obligation to at least give the Hibikis back their house the way he found it, he wasn't some kinda monster or anything.

So, instead of simply putting it away, he put it to work, going through the house mopping the wood flooring, making sure everything was clean and perfect. Then and only then could he return the mop to its home in the closet, where another set of tools called out to him.

The home was quite dusty, like it had been at least a few weeks since somebody had come by. He couldn't just live in a place this filthy anyway! So with a heavy heart, he dusted, swept, and vacuumed, diligently cleaning until the home was spotless and actually livable.

Which meant that Ranma could finally push his way into the kitchen with a stack of old plates of uneaten food in hand. Judging from the way they looked, they too were some weeks old, though Ranma wasn't really sure why the Hibikis would make food and not eat it, he didn't remember this being a problem in the past. He supposed it could just have been a confusing family dinner that resulted in the house scattering to the four winds. Either way, he diligently did the dishes so he had something clean to eat off of, and opened the fridge.

Ranma immediately regretted that decision as the rank smell of expired milk and rotting meat hit his nose alongside a chorus of other scents he dared not give name to. He'd eaten out of dumpsters before though, so this wasn't really any different. He just needed to pick through all the trash to find whatever was left that was still edible.

Of course, unlike a dumpster, this fridge wasn't supposed to be that way. He dragged over a garbage can, popped it open, and set about checking every piece of food he could, throwing away anything old or expired. It was going to be a bit of work, but this way he'd have a clean fridge to use to store his future supplies, and it'd be easier to decide what to eat. 

The sheer volume of wasted food meant he probably needed to run the trash out after he ate, but at least now he could get started feeding himself. Finally able to browse the shelves and drawers, he took stock of the generous bounty left to him by the home’s previous inhabitants…

A single jar of natto.

Just looking at the sealed container of fermented bean slime dredged up memories he would have rather left forgotten. He could still remember his first time, watching his old man pile the rank goo all over their perfectly good rice, humming to himself all the while as if he honestly liked the stuff.

Ranma's skin crawled, but he grabbed it anyway. Food was food, the Hibikis had to have rice around here somewhere, and even if it wasn't a good meal it was going to get him through the day. 

Somewhere on the other side of the house, he could hear Shirokuro barking as he went through the cabinets looking for the rice and the rice cooker, but he didn't pay her much mind. She'd gotten all the food out of him she was going to get, had plenty of access to the yard all by herself, and he had more important things to deal with. 

His stomach growled as he eyed the rice, and he knew this situation called for at least two scoops of rice—anything to help distract from what he needed to top it with—and so he began loading the rice cooker with one hand, his other still rifling through drawers to see if there was anything else he could have alongside his bounty of rice and beans. He wasn't exactly above instant miso or noodles.

His hands found a single cup of noodles, proudly displaying its contents as being shrimp flavored, and he thanked his lucky stars that some part of his dinner was going to taste decent. Swiftly he moved to set up a kettle, silently hoping both halves of his emergency meal would finish at the same time. Now all he had to do was wait, watch a kettle boil, and-

“Sweetheart, are you lost?” Asked the voice of an older woman from behind Ranma, though Ranma automatically waved his hand behind him dismissively.

“Nah, I'm not lost. I'm just-” Ranma began, his mind realizing abruptly that someone had spoken to him, forcing him to whip around to face the sudden intruder.

Standing there clutching a collection of groceries was a stout woman only a little taller than Ranma, her curly black hair held out of her eyes with a white tiger striped headband. A jolt of panic hit Ranma as he immediately realized the trouble he found himself in. She was Mrs. Hibiki. The Mrs. Hibiki, who lived here, took care of the place when she could, and made the best spicy beef gyoza… and Ranma had just broken into her house. He needed a plan, quick! “Well I was just…”

Shirokuro barked, interrupting Ranma's train of thought as she pushed forward, sitting at Ranma's side and expectantly shoving her head into Ranma's hand. Idly, he started petting her, glad at least the dog was on his side, but she wasn't going to help him think.

“It’s okay dear, everyone gets lost sometimes. I know you didn't come here trying to steal anything, because you're a good child, right?” Asked Mrs. Hibiki, the confusion on her lips slowly resolving into a smile.

Ranma's heart skipped at even the slightest leeway or excuse being given to him, but he could absolutely capitalize on it. Living on the road with pops, he'd mastered plenty of scams, grifts, and tricks, he just needed to settle on one and commit to it. The lost orphan boy trick would work, but then he'd just end up getting taken to the police, and then he'd be right back in pops’ care. It wasn't so much a scam, but he could have been honest about being Ranma, asked for a snack, and left, or simply apologized about breaking before running off into the rain, but both of those lost him a warm and dry place to plan his big trip to China.

But he knew one foolproof scam that had worked every time he ever tried it, and Mrs. Hibiki was going to fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. It was a simple trick in theory, based entirely on how spotty human memory could be, and how everyone had a secret to hide, somewhere, even ones they’d forgotten. 

“Of course I'm a good child, that's why you named me Yoiko, isn't it mom?” Ranma asked, putting a shimmer on his pleading eyes as his hands clasped in front of him. Another flash of confusion hit Mrs. Hibiki, but that was normal, just like the brief nervous twitch of her eyes as she tried to remember if she ever cheated on her husband so as to have a long lost child. This was the opener, the doubt had been planted, all he had to do was water it and watch it grow…

“I- I'm not sure I have a daughter…” Mrs. Hibiki’s shock forced her to speak before she was sure of the answer, just like every other mark he'd pulled this on, and now all he had to do was deliver the finishing blow, perfectly tailored to the Hibikis and their curse. 

“I know I've been gone for a while, but you really don't remember me anymore?!” Ranma pleaded, letting the tears drop from his eyes at a practiced rhythm as the plan reached its crescendo. “I understand. I've been lost too long. You don't got space in your heart for me anymore. I’m sorry to bother you, mom.”

Ranma turned his eyes downward out of feigned shame, slowly trudging his way back towards the front door, preemptively shivering at the idea of throwing himself out into the rain again.

The first thing to interrupt him was a concerned whine, Shirokuro walking beside him, and he had to hide his wicked grin at that good fortune. A stranger wouldn't be on such good terms with the family dog. After all, Shirokuro had been so slow to trust him when he first started coming over.

“Sorry Shirokuro, I have to go again. I'll be back one day, okay? So don't worry about me, girl.” He said, bending forward to give the dog one last full body scratch before patting her on the head with finality as he started walking again.

“W- wait, Y- Yoiko, don't go,” called Mrs. Hibiki, her voice full of worry and concern that told Ranma he'd once again given the performance of a lifetime. “I guess I'm still a little scrambled right now sweetheart, you know how it goes. I only just got home.”

Mrs. Hibiki let out a full body laugh at the idea that she'd managed to misplace knowledge of her one and only daughter, and Ranma simply chuckled back as he turned around, grinning as he prepared to finish things. It was going to be weird, but he had to execute one of his strongest attacks.

Racing forward, Ranma wrapped his arms around Mrs. Hibiki, letting the faux tears continue to cascade down his cheek. He hadn't expected Mrs. Hibiki to actually hug him back, pulling him tight, but that only meant it was working, and his tears increased in volume to really sell their reunion.

“Well I'm glad you're back now, Yoiko. You know we were really worried about you,” said Mrs. Hibiki with a smile as she broke the hug and stepped away to put her bags down on the counter. Ranma couldn't help but grin back as well, already getting to watch as Mrs. Hibiki invented memories about her new daughter whole cloth. “When was the last time you ate? You're practically skin and bones sweetheart!”

“I think I had breakfast around dawn,” Ranma offered with a shrug, though admittedly the single bento he’d swiped from a convenience store wasn’t the most filling breakfast. “I’m just naturally thin I guess, don't worry about it mom.”

The fear that he'd just refused food shot through him, but Mrs. Hibiki just shook her head at the statement, and handed Ranma a bag.

“Kiddo, the sun came up fourteen hours ago.” Mrs. Hibiki’s eyes lit up with concern, and she walked over to the fridge with a purpose. “Be a dear and help me put the groceries away, then I'll cook you something to eat, alright? You must be starving.”

Mrs. Hibiki gestured at a cabinet, and Ranma nodded, taking the dry goods over to it. Mentally braced for the disaster on the other side, he opened it, only to see a neatly arranged row of perfectly edible nonperishables. Grumbling to himself, he got to work adding the cans and sacks in his bag into the back of the cabinet, already cursing how easily he'd almost forced himself to stomach natto again when there was all this perfectly good food.

“If you think you're going to get lost again, make sure some of that is in your pack, okay?” Mrs. Hibiki added, answering the question of why they had so many cans before he could even ask it. He supposed as long as she was offering, he wasn't going to say no to stuffing his bag full of canned fish and fruit; not having to forage would have been a nice change of pace for once. 

He turned to respond to her exactly in time to watch her preemptively flinch before opening the refrigerator, her face scrunching in anticipation of a dreaded stink that never came. Instead of the horrible science experiment her family had left behind, Mrs. Hibiki was treated to the void of an empty fridge. “You cleaned the fridge…”

“O- of course I did, m- mom. I was home and it was dirty. I have chores to do, don’t I?” Ranma tried hastily to avoid any situation where Mrs. Hibiki overanalyzed Ranma’s kindness, or really thought about what he’d hoped to accomplish when he’d emptied the thing out on his own. All she needed to think was that he was just a good little child, and he loved helping out around the house.

“Did you mop the floors too? You’re a peach, kiddo, your brother never remembers to do that while he’s here,” laughed Mrs. Hibiki, as she set to work every item practically flying into its intended spot as she unloaded her portion of the groceries. “H- have you seen him, while you were out? It’s been a while since he came home.”

“No.” Ranma replied, the despondence in his voice not actually needed to be faked. He hadn’t seen Ryoga in a couple of years, not since pops dragged him out of Tokyo in the middle of junior high. He missed the guy, they were real rivals, and he would have given a lot of things to get to see him again. “Sorry. I hope he’s okay…”

“Well of course he is, sweetheart, I promise. He’s still sending postcards at least, so he can’t be doing too bad.” Mrs. Hibiki’s grin faltered only slightly as she thought about her son, and Ranma regretted bringing it up immediately. Either way, getting lost and wandering around was normal Hibiki behavior as far as Ranma was aware, Ryoga was gonna be fine in the end, wherever he was. 

“Yeah, bro’s a tough guy, he's probably just busy training or something.” Ranma said as he stood up. He briefly considered grabbing another bag, but Mrs. Hibiki had everything else covered. 

“He certainly must be.” sighed Mrs. Hibiki, as she started pulling out ingredients and bowls, already making good on her promise to cook Ranma something for his troubles. “But if he's anything like me, he's living it up, wherever he is. Have you read my postcards? I've been on an adventure these last few weeks!” 

“O- oh, no, I didn't get around to checking the mail or anything…” Ranma wasn't really familiar with this aspect of Hibiki culture, at least not on the receiving end. He knew they had a family habit of sending notes home, and a cabinet somewhere in the living room they kept them in, but Ranma hadn't really given himself time to poke around and pry into the family's affairs. 

“Well it all started when I went out for mahjong with the girls. I left early, so I got there after only a short mishap up in Nerima.” Mrs. Hibiki laughed to herself as she reached up, grabbed her headband, and in a single fluid flick of her wrist forced into a rigid blade in her hand. Ranma couldn't help but gasp at the display, he'd only seen Ryoga do the same trick a few times before, and he had no idea how it worked. Smirking to herself, Mrs. Hibiki then immediately began chopping vegetables with the improvised knife. “Of course I got all turned around when we tried to grab highballs after, and the next thing I knew I was in Nagano, can you imagine? I think I'd found the last ski resort that was still open, so I figured-”

Mrs. Hibiki abruptly paused her story as she finished chopping, turning to look at Ranma with a confusion that increasingly worried him. He had no idea why she would have suddenly divined the truth, but he had to prepare himself to run if she had. 

“Hey kiddo, I never asked what you wanted. I was in the mood to make myself some gyoza tonight, but I can cook something else if you want. How about some oyakodon, too? You need something filling, and you already started cooking rice.” Mrs. Hibiki's warm smile returned, and he breathed a sigh of relief. That all sounded fine to him, especially in addition to whatever salad she was presently chopping, so he nodded in agreement. 

“Don't make too much on my account “ insisted Ranma, though Mrs. Hibiki simply continued getting her ingredients in order and waved her hand at him dismissively.

“If we don't eat the food I bought, it'll go bad! So don't worry about it, sweetheart.” Mrs. Hibiki reassured him as she started mixing the filling, adding her signature extra large helping of cinnamon and cumin. “So anyway, I figured while I was there I might as well ski around a little, right? I was enjoying myself, but the wind kicked up, my goggles got covered in snow, and then I was truly lost.”

Ranma sat in rapt attention as she watched Mrs. Hibiki work, still trying to wrap his head around how the Hibiki curse even worked. At least when he wandered he usually knew where he was headed, even if he'd never really had a choice about where to go. 

“Did someone find you?” Ranma asked as the pause dragged on and it became increasingly clear Mrs. Hibiki was waiting for an interjection of some kind.

“Not a soul! I just kept moving until I found home, same as anyone else. I was a little surprised when my skis stopped working out of nowhere, but at least at that point I'd found this cute little place that did pig sumo shows!” Mrs. Hibiki laughed again, and Ranma wasn't sure if she was joking or not. That sounded a little far-fetched to him, but he also knew Ryoga well enough that it all seemed sort of plausible too. Hell, the guy had managed to be more than three days late to the damn empty lot behind his own home.

“And you managed to walk home from there?” Ranma asked, hoping to avoid any awkward silences.

“Ended up at the grocery store down the street, actually. Did some shopping and got one of the employees to walk me home, they're so nice.” Mrs. Hibiki smiled, an honest appreciation in her voice. Ranma understood it, though, he'd led Ryoga around town all the time when they were in junior high, just because it was the right and responsible thing to do. He was glad that the Hibikis had a community that was at least willing to try to help them. “What about you, kiddo?”

“What about me?” Ranma asked, trying not to be nervous at being put on the spot. He already knew what she wanted, a story, a backstory for her daughter that Ranma hadn't really come up with yet. His mind was racing for the perfect excuse for why he couldn't tell her anything, like sudden onset amnesia caused by a head injury, but in the end he knew that wouldn't match up with his insistence he was her long lost daughter. His best bet was just going to be selectively repackaging his training journey into a story like hers.

“Where have you been, sweetheart?! You've been out for a while and you've definitely got a story to tell, I can see it in your eyes!” Said Mrs. Hibiki, full of enthusiasm and expectations Ranma wasn't sure he could possibly hope to meet. “You only have to tell me if you want to, and I don't need to hear everything I missed, but if you went anywhere interesting—like Thailand or something—I'd love to hear about it.”

“Thailand?” Ranma asked, blinking as he ran through his mental map just to check if he was even really near it at any point in his travels. They hadn’t though, most of their trip concerned with heading west through China. Which was a shame, now that he thought about it, it might have been nice for him and pops to spend a few weeks there. He wanted to pick up Muay Thai one of these days! “Oh, no, nothing like that. Okay maybe a little like that. I did go to China!” 

“China! I bet you had fun there, Yoiko. So, how was it? Did anything interesting happen?” Mrs. Hibiki asked, only briefing looking over her shoulder before she got back to frying. 

“I didn’t have a lot of time to sightsee, you know since I kept getting turned around and lost, but I guess I enjoyed it! I ended up in a few weird places, like a whole village of warrior women!” Ranma shuddered involuntarily, not actually eager to remember too much of that part of his trip. “I must have made a girl really angry with me while I was there, though. I swear she was trying to kill me the whole rest of the trip.” 

Awkwardly Ranma laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, and Mrs. Hibiki joined him. It wasn’t really supposed to be funny, but then Mrs. Hibiki probably didn’t mean for her story to be funny either. He needed to think more like her, find the humor in the strange stuff that happened to him, so his story would sound more authentic.

“Well I hope she didn’t follow you back to Japan! She sounds like a real hassle. I swear, if any girl comes around here trying to-”

“If she follows me, I’ll handle it, okay mom?” Ranma hastily interrupted Mrs. Hibiki’s passionate defense of her imaginary daughter. As nice as it was to know he had someone looking out for him—pops certainly hadn’t been very good at protecting him—he also knew a mostly normal woman like Mrs. Hibiki was no match for Shan Pu and her amazon tricks. Fortunately, there was no way she’d have swum all the way out here looking for him. “But that was only part of my trip! I ended up with what was apparently some  ‘enchanted dragon congee’, but I never got to eat it because some bandits swiped it from me, and then I…” 

Ranma paused, moments away from accidentally spilling the beans about Jusenkyo, when a thought struck him. He didn’t have to just tell the truth, he could make up whatever he wanted, and the ‘cursed springs’ were the perfect place to claim he’d solved a different issue. “I was following someone while I was lost in the Bayankala range, I think on Mt. Quanjing, out in the Qinghai province, and I ended up getting guided somewhere… magical. I didn’t really understand why I was there at first, and I still don’t really know how it all happened but… I got cured, mom!”

“Cured? Of what? Were you sick?” 

“The family curse! Mom, I don’t get lost anymore! I can… I can follow maps, signs, directions, I came straight home as soon as I realized it!” He couldn’t really fake any more tears over the situation, so he simply put his hands together out of confidence, letting his eyes shimmer in the light with his pride at having defeated a worthy foe like the old family curse. If Mrs. Hibiki bought that tale, he could come and go from the house tomorrow at his leisure, and it wouldn’t draw any suspicion. That was going to make getting his supplies together all the easier. 

“Did you?! That’s amazing, kiddo! Oh, I wish your brother was there with you too, then I wouldn’t have to worry about either of you.” Mrs. Hibiki put the lid over the gyoza to let them steam as she turned her attention back to the chicken. “Maybe one day we’ll all go back out there as a family and finally be rid of it! I’ll miss my little adventures, but it might be nice to feel normal for once.”

“O- oh, yeah, I think I remember the way, I’m sure I can find us a guide again, at least. One day.” Ranma’s smile broke slightly at the hope he’d just accidentally put into Mrs. Hibiki’s heart. He had no idea what had caused their curse, but it was beyond his ability to fix. The thought dawned on him that he probably could trick the Hibiki into paying for the travel back to Jusenkyo, dragging them all out to those cursed springs just so he could be a real man again… 

But he wasn’t that cruel, he already felt bad taking advantage of Mrs. Hibiki as much as he already was. She was a really nice lady, and she didn’t deserve all these lies. 

“Well why don’t we worry about that later. You get started on these, and I’ll get the oyakodon out as soon as it’s ready, okay?” Mrs. Hibiki grinned as she brought over a plate positively covered in way too many dumplings, an extra generous cup of her chili oil sitting on the side. 

“These aren’t all for me, are they? This is kind of a lot, isn’t it?” Ranma replied, though he could hardly avoid popping one in his mouth, relishing the sting. This was how he liked his food, and he hated that pops was such a baby he’d never let Ranma cook anything spicy around camp. 

“You said you came straight here from China, didn’t you kiddo? You’ve clearly been doing a lot of walking, training, and growing, and not an awful lot of eating. I didn’t think I’d need to remind a fifteen year old girl that she has to eat to live! I’ll have whatever’s leftover, alright?” Mrs. Hibiki’s voice was again heavy with a concern Ranma was starting to feel ashamed to be receiving. She was too nice, a poor little street kid like him could survive on a lot less than this. But, she was right. He was hungry, and if she was offering, he wasn’t really doing anything wrong…

There weren't going to be any leftovers of course, not with Ranma plowing through the food just like she always did when she came over. Sachiko didn't really mind though. Ranma was a good kid, and if her dad wasn't willing to feed her right, Sachiko would make up for it where she could.

She just wished she had any idea what had really happened to the kiddo.

The last time Sachiko had seen Ranma, she was still a boy—a slightly eccentric boy, playing around with a few things—and yet now what sat before her ravenously devouring the gyoza that always was Ranma's favorite and that her own husband and son couldn't stand, was undoubtedly a young woman. 

In the end though, whatever reason Ranma had for making that change didn't matter. She was a girl now and Sachiko would respect her, even if her own flesh and blood wouldn't. 

The long-lost daughter routine she was pulling was cute, if a little initially insulting, but Sachiko decided she would play along with it until Ranma was ready to be honest. She had to know she was already a friend of the family by now! Sachiko had already insisted she stay over more than once, when her dad had been out of town and she was stuck in that shady house down the road by herself. Sachiko just couldn't come out and say she knew the truth though, not while Ranma looked so underfed, skittish, and nervous, wearing around musty ill-fitting clothes. She was going to set the girl up for success before she even possibly risked scaring the girl and making her run off into the night.

“Glad to see you still like my cooking.” Sachiko laughed, trying to avoid any awkward silences where Ranma might have worried she was being evaluated or scrutinized. That, and the more Sachiko looked like she really believed little Yoiko was her daughter, the more Ranma would calm down and make herself at home. “Are you feeling full, or should I make you more?”

“N- no mom, really, that was a lot!” Ranma patted her gut for emphasis as she set down the bowl that formerly contained oyakodon, at least before she had devastated it in less than a minute. “I already feel bad that the first thing you did when you got home was cook!”

Sachiko smiled. She couldn't help it! Every time Ranma called her mom, she felt a little spike of joy she couldn't really repress. Ranma might not have actually been her kid, but it was kinda fun playing pretend.

“Oh it's no big deal sweetheart, it's not every day two Hibikis make it home at the same time. We gotta celebrate having each other when we can, right?” Sachiko said, trying not to grin wider as Ranma shot her a smile back.

“Right. Just don't do too much work for me, okay? I'd hate to feel like a burden.” said Ranma, sheepishly sinking down in her chair.

A burden! The girl who had ensured Sachiko’s son actually made it most of the way through middle school thought she was a burden! The same girl who had apparently decided to clean out the fridge, mop the halls, and dust everything really believed that?!

“Sweetheart, I'm your mom, taking care of you is my job!” Sachiko tried very hard to hide the part of her that desperately wished to strangle the girl's real father at this moment. What kind of parent was he that his own child was so unaccustomed to simply being looked after?! “You're still just a kid, Yoiko. That means I get to worry about you as much as I want! You'll understand once you're a mom.”

Sachiko immediately regretted her choice of words. She didn't know a lot about ‘the surgery’ besides what she saw on the occasional foreign drama, but she was pretty sure it meant Ranma wasn't going to get to have kids. Ever.

“O- oh, yeah. When I'm a mom...” Ranma replied, her voice more embarrassed and nervous than hurt, especially once the blush formed on her face and she turned away to hide it. “Sorry, for makin’ ya worry about me, I guess. I'm just not used to getting fret over too much.”

Continuing not to verbally castigate Mr. Saotome in front of his disguised daughter, Sachiko nodded and did her best to stay positive. It was going to take time to teach Ranma that she really did deserve to be loved and cherished, but Sachiko was once again prepared to handle that task if the girl’s own family could not.

“Well get used to it, kiddo. I'm gonna be the best mother I can be now that you're back.” Sachiko said, standing up to start cleaning the dishes and put them away. “Which also means I've gotta tell you to do one more thing you probably won't like.”

“Which is?” Ranma asked, probably shrinking down in place even further, not that Sachiko could see.

“You said you've been doing a lot of traveling to come straight here, right? And you've been up since dawn?” Sachiko phrased things like questions, but she knew those were true well before Ranma made a quiet grunt of affirmation, nodding in her peripheral vision. “Whether you feel tired or not, I think you need to get some rest sweetheart. I'll still be here tomorrow, I promise. I basically never get lost in the house.”

“I have a bedtime?” Grumbled Ranma, folding her arms and pouting, but it wasn't going to change Sachiko's decision, no matter how good she was at it.

“It'll be good for you kiddo, trust me. You look exhausted.” Sachiko turned to stare down at her faux daughter, watching the girl slowly realize just how good sleep would be for her too. “I think your dad forgot about you too, so he changed the words on all the signs leading to your room. Until I can fix it, just follow the guide on the floor that says ‘guest room', okay?”

Ranma opened her mouth to protest, her body language still prickly at the notion that someone could tell her what to do, but eventually it fell apart, and she once again nodded in agreement.

“Alright. I wanted to get up early tomorrow anyway.” Ranma said as she stood up, almost but not quite leaving the room. She tensed up for some reason, shifting her weight from one foot to another, before she finally let out a sigh and continued. “Goodnight mom, I- I- I lo- lo- Bye!”

She ran out of the room before Sachiko could even think to say anything back, or properly evaluate the way her voice broke as she had to try to tell someone she cared about them. Even faked, forced, and not quite finished, Sachiko couldn't help but grin again at how nice her kiddo was trying to be.

She was going to let Ranma get comfortable in her new bed on her own, and wasn't going to bother to check if she was really sleeping for at least an hour or two out of trust. Instead, now that she was alone, Sachiko had several very important things to do.

The very first of which was fixing herself that mori highball she'd wanted for the last three weeks.

Armed with that and a bag of nori flavored potato chips to take the edge of her hunger off, she could turn her attention to the question of what to do about her brand new temporary daughter. Obviously it was still a tossup whether or not she'd even still have a daughter come tomorrow, Ranma still looked a little primed to bolt, even after being fed. Hopefully though, a big breakfast would convince her to take the time she needed to actually heal from the road before setting off again.

So much had clearly happened to that poor girl while she was gone. Abandoned by her father, left to starve just because she was different, forced to hike all the way back here to the house of the only friend she remembered having, and still she was forced to hide who she was, make up outrageous lies instead of just asking for help from a family that genuinely cared about her.

And Sachiko had no idea when any of this had happened. She'd sounded so happy in the letters she'd been sending to Ryoga… who had been too busy chasing after her to come home to read them.

Sachiko sighed as she walked over to the filing cabinet where the family kept their correspondence. Getting two Hibikis in the house was hard, but any Hibiki would send a postcard or a letter, and everyone could read them when they came home. While she needed to check the mail tomorrow and see if her son or husband had any fun stories to tell, right now she was going to open up the compartment at the very bottom, and pull out a stack of letters written not by a Hibiki, but by a Saotome. 

They were all addressed to Ryoga, but despite how much she wanted to respect Ranma’s privacy, she’d read them all already. How could she not?! Her son was missing, chasing after his best friend who’d also vanished while Sachiko was lost! She’d resisted reading the letters for as long as she could, but the more her son sent postcard after postcard talking about how Ranma had failed a man to man promise, and that he wouldn’t stop until he tracked Ranma down… the more Sachiko needed answers. 

Now, she needed to read them again. Not for her son’s sake, but for her daughter’s, so she could try to more fully grasp what had really happened to Yoiko since she’d left. 

Taking a long sip of her highball, Sachiko sat down on the couch, spreading the letters from Ranma across the table. She didn’t need to start from the beginning, the most recent ones probably had more clues, but she wanted to remind herself how it felt when Ranma first left, one more time.

“Hey Ryoga,

Sorry I missed our last fight. By the time I realized I needed to come get you, you’d already left your house. I tried to get pops to let me wait for you as long as I could, but I guess he dragged me off when I passed out on the third day.

I don’t really know where we’re going yet, but we’re stopping in Shizuoka tonight. He’s distracted writing his own letter to someone right now, so I swiped all these stationary, pens, envelopes, and stuff so I could write to you, too. I’ll try to keep writing every time I get the chance, okay buddy? It’ll be like we’re still sorta training together, even if there’s a bit of distance between us. Don’t slack off! I expect a real fight when I get back, rival!

I wish I coulda told you goodbye in person, given you something to remember me, anything. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll see each other out on the road. I’d like that. 

Catch you around, Ranma.”

Sachiko sighed, still not really sure why the kids had decided to have one last fight before Ranma left instead of hanging out like they used to. If Ryoga were actually here she would have asked, but her son insisted on being vague, talking about being a man, or honor, or whatever. If Ranma really had done something heinous, she would have marched down to the guest room and thrown the girl out of the house herself… 

But someone who was trying to make an enemy of the Hibikis—who hated her son—wouldn’t have gone through all the effort to try to stay in touch with him. This wasn’t the taunt of a terrible man like the girl’s father, it was a kind of love, devotion, friendship, something.  

Shoving a handful of chips into her mouth, Sachiko made the decision to jump forward to a lot later, past the letters from Osaka, Okayama and Fukokua, to the first one Ranma had sent from China.

“To Ryoga

I know there was kind of a gap between this letter and my last one, pops dragged me down to the beach and finally told me what the plan was. We had to swim to China! Worse, we weren’t just headed for Shanghai or nothing, pops wanted us to swim all the way to Hong Kong!  

It was a lot of work, I was really worried we were gonna get lost by the end there, but we actually did it! I’m writing from another country! 

I’m sure that’s not that impressive to you, but I’ve never actually left Japan before this. It’s a little exciting! There’s gonna be so much new food to try, new people to meet, and we’ve got a packed itinerary! After pops talks to somebody he ‘knows’ to get us the right papers, money, and junk, he wants us to trek up to Zhengzhou so we can train at the Shaolin temple! That’s gonna be a really long walk according to the map I found, and I don’t really speak Mandarin or Cantonese or anything else, so I hope it goes well. Especially pops doesn’t speak a lick of it either!

Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll learn a new language while I’m here, I always kinda thought that would be fun. I at least hope I’ll understand some simple phrases by the time we have to swim back.

Your pal, Ranma!”

Though she knew it was coming, Sachiko’s stomach squirmed at the mere idea that a child had been forced to swim all that way. Especially since stowing away on a boat was well within the means of Ranma’s deadbeat father! Maybe that was ‘training’, if it could be called that, but did he have any idea how dangerous it was to put his son through that?! To put Sachiko’s son through that?!

She couldn’t blame Ranma for Ryoga’s insistence on following in her footsteps, but his brief postcards had nearly mirrored Ranma’s travels—ignoring a few incidences of the Hibiki curse flaring up—and that meant he too had so foolishly chosen to swim all the way to the South China Sea. Mr. Saotome was damn lucky her son actually managed to make landfall instead of being lost at sea, or she really would have sworn revenge against the man. 

Taking another sip of her drink, Sachiko smirked, because she was taking her revenge. So long as Ranma was here, she was going to treat his daughter better than he ever could. She would humiliate him not as a warrior, but a father, and if that didn’t mean anything to him…

Well, Ranma deserved better than a man like that.

Sachiko could have kept going through the letters, but at this point she wasn’t really sure she had to. Whatever happened between them must have been recent for Ranma to have shown up so nervous, it wasn’t going to be hidden in months old letters about the girl traveling to Mt. Emei, or heading up into the Bayankala mountain range, heading towards some ancient training ground her dad insisted was there. 

She didn’t need to know why Ranma needed her. What mattered was that she did, and that Sachiko had provided for her how she could. Ranma had enjoyed a hot meal, had a roof over her head, and should have been sleeping on a nice soft bed. 

Alone.

Grimacing slightly from an old memory she had of the first time Ranma ever slept over at the house, Sachiko shook Shirokuro awake. Though her dog had been enjoying laying down by her side, she had a job for the poor little pup, and honestly Shirokuro was going to like it.

“Hey girl, I bet Yoiko’s feeling a little lonely right now, could you go sleep in her bed with her? I bet she’s warm.” Sachiko said, smiling at her dog that was simultaneously much too smart, and just a little empty headed. 

At first yawning, the dog delivered a single bark in response as she slowly slinked off down the hallway, her wagging tail betraying just how much she wanted to do this too. Ranma had trouble sleeping by herself, that had been a problem the last time she’d used the guest room. However, there wasn’t any Ryoga to let her sleep next to this time—not that Sachiko was sure that letting them split a room was a good idea anyway, at least not until she knew they weren’t going to fight in the house—so Shirokuro would have to keep her company tonight, and help the girl have pleasant dreams.

Yawning as well, Sachiko acknowledged that she could probably use a nap herself, she’d been traveling for a while too, but she didn’t get to go to sleep just yet. While she had no idea if her new daughter really was going to stick around past tomorrow morning, she wanted to make Yoiko feel at home, like she belonged, and that meant making a few late night changes to the house.

She needed to squirrel away these letters somewhere private, set Yoiko up with her own postcard drawer, scribble on all the signs so everyone knew where Yoiko’s Room was, and if nothing else, before she let her daughter leave the nest…

Sachiko wanted to pick out a cute headband for her daughter. Yoiko deserved one.

Chapter Text

A trickle of sunlight shining through an east facing window hit Ranma's eyes, pushing out whatever passed for his dreams that night as his eyes fluttered open. The fluffy white body pillow he'd been holding tight was still very warm, and in his early morning mental haze he nuzzled against it, considering going back to bed.

Until it moved, twitching in his grip.

His eyes shot open as he stared at the thing he was holding, watching as the top of it turned slightly to reveal a long muzzle, partially black, at which point it yawned. He was holding a dog, he was in some kind of room, he was-

Ranma took a deep breath and yawned with the dog as the memories of the previous day came back to him. Right, he'd somehow tricked his way into being the Hibiki family’s brand new long-lost daughter, been allowed to sleep in this nice guest room, and Shirokuro had simply decided to keep him company overnight, because she was such a sweet dog.

Well, Mrs. Hibiki had been right about at least one thing, he'd needed that rest. It was a little later than he and pops usually got up, but sleeping in wasn't so bad. There was still plenty of time to get his supplies together and prepare to head off this afternoon or tomorrow, but he felt a lot more rested than he'd expected.

Slowly rising out of bed, Ranma threw on his tangzhuang that had been carefully folded and placed on the room’s desk, pulled on his pants and…

Mrs. Hibiki had found his guy clothes and thrown them in here! He cursed his stupidity for leaving them in the bathroom, but he just hadn't thought about them when he went to bed last night! A small amount of fear hit him as he realized it was possible she'd seen through some part of his ruse, was going to ask why her daughter had oversized men's clothes, and-

A gentle knocking hit the wooden door to the room, grabbing Ranma's attention and pulling him out of his spiral.

“Yoiko! Are you up yet?! I just finished making us breakfast!” Mrs. Hibiki said, setting Ranma's heart at ease. Of course she wasn't going to worry about silly things like that. In her eyes Yoiko was probably just wearing something she'd had to grab on the way back from China.

Which wasn't that far from the truth, actually.

“I’m up! Just gettin’ dressed now,” Ranma replied as he pulled the door open, forcing a grin so Mrs. Hibiki would know her daughter was just happy to be taken care of. Though admittedly he didn't have to try too hard. Mrs. Hibiki was really nice, and something about the way she was treating her wayward daughter was… refreshing.

He was honestly almost envious of Ryoga. Ignoring the family curse, he really had lucked out, at least in the mom department. Ranma didn't even have one! And even ignoring that, Mrs. Hibiki was definitely a better parent than pops ever was.

“Oh, good. I was worried I was going to wake you.” Mrs. Hibiki punctuated the thought with a laugh, before she spun around and started walking off, diligently following the clearly labeled line on the floor that led to the kitchen. “I didn't really know what to make, so I hope you like grilled fish!”

Though Mrs. Hibiki couldn't see it, Ranma nodded, following right behind her. He couldn't say no to real food of any sort, but now that she'd mentioned it, he could smell the freshly sizzled mackerel, and he suddenly couldn't really consider eating anything else.

Of course as he arrived at the table, Ranma saw Mrs. Hibiki had also gotten a heaping bowl of rice ready for him alongside a salad, and he wasn't going to pass those up either. After a long couple of weeks on the road, he deserved to get to eat somewhat heartily.

“Thanks for the food, m- mom!” said Ranma, before he started the task of shoveling food into the void, trying simultaneously to savor each bite of a home cooked meal while also getting it down before anyone could take it from him.

“You’re welcome kiddo, I figured you'd like it.” Mrs. Hibiki replied, still smiling as she started eating as well. “You've been gone so long, I completely forgot what your favorite foods are! We’re going to need to experiment and figure that out again, aren't we?” 

Mrs. Hibiki’s eyes narrowed as she tried to call up memories that weren't real, and Ranma could only hope his disguise would hold for at least the rest of the day. He had canned food—courtesy of the Hibikis—so he just needed some new clothes, maybe some camping supplies, and he could leave by nightfall, or tomorrow morning.

“Well, I did love your gyoza.” Ranma needed to stop Mrs. Hibiki from thinking too much, lest she realize the truth, or worse decided that Yoiko actually liked something terrible. “I like most seafood! Honestly, I'm willing to eat just about anything, I promise.”

“I hope you'll at least let me know if you want anything, kiddo, I'm pretty good in the kitchen. Cooking is a hobby of mine.” Mrs. Hibiki smirked, and Ranma once again nodded in agreement. He never had any complaints about anything he'd eaten over here, even if it was mostly his own cooking, since it was usually just him and Ryoga. “You have hobbies, right sweetheart? I'd hate to think you were just lost out there with nothing fun to do.”

“Well I like martial arts-” Ranma said, cutting himself off as he realized he had absolutely no other answer. There wasn't exactly time for anything else traveling with pops! He couldn't sit here staring up at Mrs. Hibiki, if he couldn't remember anything he was just going to need to make something up. “A- And gymnastics! I'm really good at swimming, I like running and jumping, and…. Well, you know, that's just what I could do on the road. Now that I'm back, I like to read I guess, and I think I might like to take up theater or acting one day. Maybe I could even sing! I've got a pretty face for it, don't I?”

It was Ranma's turn to smirk, letting his confidence overflow for just a moment. Sure he was bragging about having a stellar girl body, but he knew what he had. He was the kind of girl who could wrap boys around her finger if she tried. All she had to do was put on a pouty face, make her voice all cloyingly sweet, and smile at just the right times…

Honestly, he needed to work on mastering that trick. The cute naive girl routine was a lot easier to run than the starving orphan boy, and it wasn't ruined as soon as the mark noticed how fit he was.

“I think that's a lovely dream, Yoiko!” Mrs. Hibiki agreed, clasping her hands together. “I bet you'd be great at it. If you want to start taking lessons, I’m sure I can find somewhere that'll teach you.”

Ranma wanted to take pride in how evident that was, considering how effortlessly he'd pulled one over on Mrs. Hibiki, but it would have blown his cover. Besides, he still felt slightly gross about the whole trick. Maybe once he left he would write back to the family as Yoiko from time to time, just so Mrs. Hibiki wouldn't lose her child again. 

“Please don't worry about it. That sounds like a lot of work, and who knows if my curse is going to come back any day now. I'd hate for you to spend all that money on me only for it not to matter.” Ranma said, his voice getting quieter and quieter out of the shame of it all. “N- not that I don't appreciate it! Maybe we should think about it in a week or two…”

Trying not to show any anxiety or panic, Ranma resumed eating with speed, focusing his attention solely on the delicious meal Mrs. Hibiki had made for him. Ranma really did appreciate all the care Mrs. Hibiki was showing him—even if she did think she was taking care of her child and not a freeloader—but that earnest kindness only made this all so much harder! He could rip off jerks and cheats so incredibly easily, but she was just a nice lady who didn't deserve any of it.

He could borrow a few meals and a place to stay, but he really didn't want her spending any more money on him than that. He could handle the rest of getting ready for his trip to China on his own. A little petty theft could score him new clothes, a bag, a tent, some-

The hair on the back of Ranma's neck stood on end as he realized Mrs. Hibiki was no longer seated at the table. He didn't see her stand, but he could feel movement behind him, see shadows flicker as something loomed just out of sight, and acting on instinct he protectively curled an arm around the remainder of his food, brandishing his chopsticks like a dagger as he spun around to stop pops from taking his meal!

He halted mid-motion, as all he saw behind him was a confused and slightly concerned Mrs. Hibiki, who had flinched backwards despite her usually upbeat and confident demeanor. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, before Ranma sunk down in his chair.

“S- sorry to scare you, mom. I've just had a lot of food taken from me while I've been on the road. I guess I have a bad habit…” Ranma rubbed the back of his neck as he let his posture relax, but it took what felt like at least a minute before Mrs. Hibiki went back to being happy. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ranma analyzed her, trying and failing to find any reason why she might have crept up behind him. “Did you need me to do something, move, or…”

“No kiddo, I just wanted to give you something.” Mrs. Hibiki brought one hand up to tap her chin while the second rooted around in a pocket. “I've been wondering why something about you felt off, but I finally put my finger on it. You lost your headband!”

In a flash she presented a vividly red strip of cloth, lined with familiar black stripes, grinning brightly. She gave Ranma only a few seconds to look at it before she pulled it around Ranma's head, tying it around the front. “It's a good thing I had a spare, red is still your favorite color, right?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Ranma admitted, glad Mrs. Hibiki had made up a memory he wouldn't even need to struggle to remember. He did love reds. He didn't have time to think of anything else to say as Mrs. Hibiki handed him a compact mirror, already opened to let him see just how he looked with his new accessory.

It was how he expected, the red accented his black hair nicely, though the way Mrs. Hibiki tied it wasn't really keeping his bangs out of the way. Really the only thing it was doing was being bright and eye-catching, especially with the way the two ends of the headband hung in the air almost like a bow. Ranma didn't really know what to say, but he did have to admit, it looked really cute on him.

“Thought you'd like having it back, kiddo.” Mrs. Hibiki said, gently tousling his hair. Her job finished, she took her seat at the table again, though before she got back to eating she had one more thing to add. “I'm guessing you lost the last one with the rest of your clothes? Did something happen at the public baths? Or did you lose your bag in the ocean, or-”

“A panda attacked me.” Ranma sighed, fully accepting that the best thing he could do was be honest. The Hibikis lived outlandish stories just like he had, so he knew she'd accept it as an answer in the end.

“A… panda.” Mrs. Hibiki repeated, one eye twitching slightly at the idea. 

“Yeah, a really big one, started taking swings at me, and it tore open my bag and all my stuff! I lost my shoes trying to fend it off, and I even tried the uh, throwing headband thing! It didn't work though, and in the end I had to run.” Ranma turned away in mock shame at his defeat, even as he secretly considered it some of his finest work. 

Sure he'd beaten pops before, but this time was soundly, decisively, and it meant he was finally free. Oh, he'd miss the old man eventually, and would definitely get back in touch with pops once he was independent and settled into whatever life he wanted to lead. But for now, he was going to enjoy being his own man, living his own life!

Or he would, as soon as he could stop being little Yoiko, who apparently had a bedtime.

“But a panda? Was this in China, Yoiko? I had no idea they were so aggressive! The ones at the zoo look so innocent!” Mrs. Hibiki exclaimed, though her incredulousness was something Ranma could work with 

“Yeah. I wish I could lie and say it was a polar bear or something really scary…” Ranma leaned back from the table in mock defeat, eying his now emptied plate as he pretended to search for the words he needed. “It was at least twice my size, mom! I'm just lucky I managed ta get away before it ate me or somethin’!”

“That is a plus, I’d hate to have to swear vengeance on an endangered species.” Sachiko laughed into the back of her hand as she finally accepted the truth of Ranma's story. “It's a shame about your clothes though, but I suppose that means I get to take my daughter clothes shopping! Oh, we’ll have so much fun! Do you have a style you like, any colors you’re into, or-”

“Oh, no, it's okay really!” Ranma defensively put his hands up in between them, hoping to stop that train of thought before it went any further. He needed clothes, sure, but he couldn't let the Hibikis spend their money on him. “I've got a couple outfits, that's enough, right?”

“Yoiko dear, you have one outfit that's much too big for you and an old sweater that certainly hasn't kept up with your… developments.” Sachiko eyed Ranma up and down, forcing a wave of self consciousness and fear over him. The fact that nothing he'd worn since coming here fit him was probably going to worry Mrs. Hibiki—or make her suspicious—but what could he do besides try to explain his way out of it?”

“Well yeah, but-”

“And I can tell you aren't wearing a bra, kiddo. A girl your age really ought to know better.” Mrs. Hibiki interrupted, her tone briefly truly disappointed in Ranma, though any sternness she had fell away quickly. “And even if you don't, I can't let my own child run around like that, can I? It's not a big deal, Yoiko. And besides, I need to pick up a few things from the store, too! I could use the company, and a guide!”

Mrs. Hibiki laughed again, and Ranma could only awkwardly chuckle along to the supposed humor of the Hibiki curse. He mostly just felt bad when he had to watch Ryoga struggling with it, but Mrs. Hibiki probably had to try to find joy in the way her life was to try to cope with it. The alternative was getting really depressed and lonely about it, and from what Ranma remembered the first time he met his rival, that hadn't really been helping Ryoga.

“Okay mom, but I only need a couple new clothes, really!” Ranma relented with a sigh, accepting that maybe a new pair of shoes was a fair trade for getting Mrs. Hibiki to and from wherever else she needed to go. If some shirts or pants came his way, well, he was hardly in a position to refuse.

But he was not putting a damn bra on, no matter what. 

Getting to the department store Mrs. Hibiki wanted to go to was simple enough once she described it to him, his memory slowly rebuilding weeks spent guiding Ryoga to and from the same shopping center. The roof of the place had one of the best views, and it was there he and his rival had spent more than one summer evening relaxing over the edge with an ice cream in their hand after a long day of training.

The destination firmly in mind, Ranma briskly walked straight there with Mrs. Hibiki in tow, taking the most direct approach he could. Yes, that meant jumping across the poles along the river instead of going a few blocks down to find the bridge, or climbing up a shack to jump over a wall, but Ranma had long since found that this was the best way to lead a Hibiki anywhere. If they went through enough turns to get somewhere, inevitably Ryoga would have gotten mixed up and Ranma would have needed to go back for him. Whether or not Mrs. Hibiki had the same problem, Ranma didn't want to risk losing her either! 

And besides, she was keeping up with him well enough, even if it was clear she needed a lot more training.

“Your shortcuts are so interesting, kiddo. I guess you did say you liked gymnastics.” Mrs. Hibiki said, probably also smiling down at him as they neared their destination, but he was too busy squinting to read the store signs to make sure they ended up in the right place to pay too much attention to her. “Is this how you always get around?”

“W- well sure! Now that I don't get all turned around, it's kind of fun to just go in a straight line, isn't it?” Ranma laughed, trying to mask his preferences behind a newfound zeal. “Though that's how I always got around before, too. If you get up really high, you can see exactly where you need to go the whole time, can't you?”

“I guess that's one way to do it. Personally I always preferred to only go to the places I can see from a bus stop.” Mrs. Hibiki shrugged as she took the lead, putting on a burst of speed as they crossed the threshold to the store, whereupon she again immediately stopped in her tracks to start reading the signs. It only took a moment before she continued, heading off towards the women's clothes with a determination Ranma hadn't expected. 

Ryoga struggled to follow signs at all, he basically had to be led by the hand, so seeing his mom handle navigating a store was just somewhat surprising. Then again, she'd probably just had more time to get used to her curse. “I’ll see if I can find anything I think you'll like, but you go ahead and grab anything that catches your eye too, okay Yoiko?”

Ranma paused briefly at being given free reign to pick out his own clothes, especially as his eyes gravitated to the price tags. He'd never really bothered being trendy or fashionable, heck he mostly just wore training clothes, since it beat having to get changed every time pops wanted to force him to do anything. Of course, once the price shock wore off, Ranma realized he was flipping through frilly skirts, and distanced himself from them immediately. 

Almost none of these would actually fit his guy side, and he wouldn’t be willing to wear them as a man anyway. He just needed to excuse himself from this mess before it got out of hand!

“J- just don't go overboard mom! This is all really expensive, are you sure I shouldn't just grab some plain shirts, or pants?” Ranma asked, fully intending to grab his usual size when he got there, ideally without Mrs. Hibiki noticing.

“I haven't seen you in a while, kiddo, can't I treat you?” Mrs. Hibiki pouted as she looked over at Ranma, her hands now full of long flowing skirts, a couple simple dresses, and who knew what else. “Besides, your dad works himself to the bone in a rough profession to make sure we don't have to worry about our finances. We've got plenty of cash, I promise.”

“Rough? What do you-” Ranma blinked as he snapped to attention, the full meaning of her emphasis slowly hitting him. He never did learn what Mr. Hibiki did for a living, Ryoga was always super cagey whenever anyone asked about his dad's job! Of course now that he understood it, he didn't know why, he knew plenty of okay guys who had to do it to get by. “Wait, you don't mean dad’s… following the extreme path, do you? That's so cool! Wait, is he with the Kizawa family? Or is it the Awazu family? Maybe the Oozora family—they were always really nice to me—though I guess we’re on Fujimoto turf so-”

“Absolutely not!” Mrs. Hibiki waved her hands rapidly to interrupt him, barely concealing her shock as she looked around to see if anyone had heard what he'd said. “Your dad works a normal job, I promise, it just keeps him away from home a lot.” 

Slowly she went back to flashing him a grin—which grew all the wider as Ranma pretended to pick through admittedly cute tops. His eyes had lingered on a fairly nice red shirt a little too long not to grab it, even if he did worry about the neckline being a little lower than he was used to. He could pretend to try some stuff on if it was going to make Mrs. Hibiki happy, and maybe by doing so he could earn himself the right to shop in the men's section or something.

“You don't think this would be too much red, do you?” Ranma asked, realizing that he'd inadvertently matched the shirt he had grabbed to his newly assigned headband color. He didn't know the most about fashion, but he knew it was possible to screw up, and he wasn't about to look terrible. “Maybe I should get it in blue, or green, then it would go with that skirt you're holding!”

“It's okay to coordinate your wardrobe, kiddo. Your brother loves his yellow shirts, don't you remember?” Mrs. Hibiki looked off wistfully when it felt like she should have laughed, and all Ranma could do was join her in that.

Ryoga did kinda like yellow, but he mostly only knew Ryoga in the school uniform, or the black tank top he wore underneath it. Ryoga did own a lot of yellow shirts though, he could have sworn he remembered them.

Ranma shrugged either way, a red top or two couldn't hurt, and anything darker would just make his accessory stand out more, either way he was going to be the center of attention.

Diligently he continued down the aisles, snatching up every top that might have looked good, a few pairs of pants that looked comfortable enough to wear, some shorts that he had to put back after a disapproving look from Mrs. Hibiki informed him that they were probably too short for a girl his age. He was still loathe to consider actually wearing a dress—he was pretty sure he’d already done a terrible job of that a couple years ago—but that didn't matter. Mrs. Hibiki already had a few she clearly expected him to consider, and he could only sigh in anticipation.

But before he could even get to all of that, he had to face the hardest challenge today could bring. As they passed in front of racks of bras, Mrs. Hibiki stopped and turned to face him with a look of pure confusion, her eyes trained on the proportions of her faux daughter.

“N- now Yoiko, did anyone ever tell you your size? Like a doctor or a nurse, or…” She asked, trying to run some kind of math on her head that he didn't understand.

“A doctor? I haven't seen a doctor in a few years.” Ranma shrugged, though he quickly remembered they were still dealing with clothes. This had an easy answer. “I guess I'm a small?”

“You most certainly are not!” Mrs. Hibiki did her best not to chuckle, though she failed and had to look away as Ranma frowned to himself in embarrassment. This body was small, though! He wore the medium sizes as a guy, sure, but adorable little Yoiko didn't exactly take up a lot of space! “I'm guessing no one ever gave you your measurements, huh kiddo? Don't worry, it's not hard to find out.”

“Why do we gotta worry about it at all?” Ranma replied, wishing his hands were free enough to fold his arms out of frustration. “I really don't need ta wear any of these, I'm doing just fine without them!”

“With all that running and jumping you seem to like to do, I'm surprised you believe that.” Mrs. Hibiki sighed, taking a deep breath before she put her stern mom eyes back on. “You need to trust me, Yoiko. There's a reason the rest of us wear bras, I promise.”

Biting his tongue, Ranma did his best not to reply that it was probably mostly for the benefit of guys, ultimately just nodding in acceptance. He didn't like the feeling of Mrs. Hibiki being disappointed or mad at him, and that probably meant he had to try it, despite his reservations.

“Okay, okay, if you say so, mom…” Ranma said, watching Mrs. Hibiki stare at a chart full of numbers and letters next to her. He squinted at it too, but ultimately it didn't mean anything to him. “if you're sure, and you don't think it'll be uncomfortable or nothin’...”

“As long as we get one that fits, I promise you'll appreciate the support.” Mrs. Hibiki tapped her chin as she turned to look at him, a nervous energy suffusing her as she thought on her next words. “It’s just a matter of getting your measurements taken. You can do it yourself if you think you know how, or we can have one of the employees do it for you…”

Ranma shuddered at both ideas. He didn't really want a stranger poking and prodding at his chest, but he also had absolutely no idea what he would have needed to do himself. He'd never really been vain enough to measure any part of his body other than his height, and some part of him rebelled against breaking that principle for this of all things. “Or, if it would make you more comfortable, I can do it. Whatever you decide, I promise this is a perfectly normal thing to have done, especially in light of any sudden developments.”

That didn't sound nearly as bad, despite Ranma's reservations about measuring himself at all. At least she wouldn't judge her own daughter, find some way to make fun of Ranma or hurt him over how he looked because of some stupid curse.

“They were pretty sudden.” Ranma forced out a chuckle, hoping that a well placed joke could explain his relative inexperience with this supposedly normal thing. “I swear people thought I was a boy before they showed up outta nowhere…”

Mrs. Hibiki simply smiled at his joke, not even willing to laugh at his own attempt to make light of the circumstances. That was probably good though, it meant she'd bought the lie, and was too nice a person to be mean about this kind of thing. “Okay mom, if it's not too much trouble, I think I'd rather have you do it…”

The most difficult step of getting Ranma fitted for a bra was going to be finding an employee to get a measuring tape, but that task was ultimately simple enough for Sachiko to handle, if only because one was already standing guard by the fitting room they needed to head to anyway. Every subsequent task was going to be all too easy. After all, Sachiko had learned how to measure herself pretty quickly growing up, after having her mother help her out the first time, and an employee the second, it really wasn’t going to be too hard to pass that knowledge down to Ranma as well.

An involuntary smile graced Sachiko’s face as she stood, watching Ranma shuffle in place just as nervously as her own first time. There really wasn’t anything to be afraid of, but Ranma was blooming later than most other girls, and clearly still harbored some built up anxiety over letting herself just be feminine. 

“Okay kiddo, first things first, you’re going to have to take your shirt off.” Sachiko tried to keep herself warm, giving Ranma the space she was going to need to unfasten the top and hang it up. “I know it might be weird with someone watching, but-” 

Sachiko was completely unprepared for Ranma to rapidly shuck off her shirt without even a word of protest, discarding it on the floor with complete indifference both to it or how much of herself was just hanging out in the air. Sachiko shook her head and simply made a mental note that she was potentially going to have to give the kid a talking to about feminine modesty later, if she kept this cavalier attitude up when she wasn’t around family. The fact that she was willing to comply without forcing Sachiko to fight was good though, maybe this actually would go smoothly. “So next I need you to hold your arms out a little so I have space. I’m going to run the tape across your underbust, okay? That’ll give us your band size.” 

“My what now?” Ranma asked, tilting her head in confusion, though she moved her arms regardless. Worry filled the girl’s face in the mirror, but Sachiko simply spent a moment patting her on the head before continuing, driving it off. 

“The band is just how it fits on your ribcage, it has nothing to do with how big anything else is. We want your future bras to fit nice and snug, okay? If they’re loose they’ll ride up your back, and then they won’t be supporting anything.” Sachiko saw a little more confusion fill Ranma at the idea of support, but Sachiko honestly didn’t feel like she had to explain that part. If Ranma somehow didn’t know that’s what this was all about, she’d realize it pretty quickly in a few minutes. Trying not to waste any more time Ranma could be spending filling out her wardrobe, Sachiko ran the tape across Ranma’s body, and-

Before Sachiko could pull it tight or read the number, Ranma let out a soft hiss and an involuntary shiver just after, her hands pulling into fists as she tried to maintain her composure. “I’m sorry sweetheart, it’s been a while since I’ve needed to do this, I completely forgot to warn you how cold that feels. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah it’s fine, honest.” Ranma replied all too hastily, tearing her gaze off of the mirror and onto her old shirt. Frankly Ranma had handled that better than Sachiko had—probably resistance born of spending winter months camping with her damned father out in the woods or who knew where else—so Ranma’s sudden disappointment confused her. “Just a little weird havin’ someone touch me, you know? When it ain’t a fight.”

“Do you get in a lot of fights? Please be careful, Yoiko.” Sachiko asked, forcing herself to show slightly more concern than she usually would have. She knew Ranma was into martial arts, she and Ryoga had trained and sparred plenty of times, but until her daughter admitted to being a very competent little street fighter, Sachiko needed to pretend. Then she could move to just being slightly concerned instead, just like she was for her son, always hoping they’d win their fights and stay out of any real trouble. If either of the kids found themselves in a knife fight, a sword fight, or worse… 

“A few, it’s not easy being a wanderer, mom. Don’t worry though, I’m really good.” Ranma’s posture tightened as she spoke, and Sachiko was simply glad she’d already pulled the tape tight before Ranma’s arms got in the way. “So… are we done yet?”

“Not yet, Yoiko, I forgot to read the tape.” Sachiko tried to laugh as she leaned forward, making a mental note that Ranma was looking for a seventy. That measurement she could have guessed, Ranma was kind of small, but all the muscle she’d earned working out had pushed her past a mere sixty five. “But this is just one measurement, now we need to figure out your cup size. That means I need to put the band over the largest part of your chest.”

That caused Ranma’s face to scrunch up, though whether it was from the assumed sensation of the tape or the idea of someone touching her there was beyond Sachiko. If they didn’t have this silly little act going on between them, she could have simply asked Ranma if she was nervous because her chest still needed to heal, but as it stood she just had to barrel forward before Ranma could dwell on it too much. “It won’t take too long, and I won’t be pulling it too tight. It shouldn’t hurt, I promise, even if you’re still growing.” 

“I ain’t scared of it hurting.” There was an anger in Ranma’s voice that Sachiko couldn’t place, but she took a step back from Ranma regardless, all to give the girl a little space. “Just- I just- You’re- You- I’m- I- I can’t-”

Ranma’s whole body tensed up as she turned back to face the mirror, staring at herself with that same anger. Why exactly the girl could possibly be mad at her own body didn’t really make sense to Sachiko, though she also knew that very little about feeling wrong, bad, or unattractive made sense. Whoever had done Ranma’s surgery had done such a flawless job, rendered her into a picture perfect young woman, but that probably wasn’t what stared back at Ranma. It was the boy she used to be, perhaps the man she thought she’d grow into, some horrible distortion of her father, or perhaps all of those things at once. Tears started to bead in the corners of Ranma’s eyes, and despite all the possible nuance to their situation, Sachiko couldn’t help herself.

She strode over to Ranma, hugged the girl tight, and rested her head against her daughter’s. 

“You’re beautiful, I promise.” Sachiko didn’t know if her words would be the balm the girl needed, especially not as Ranma’s stream of tears only picked up in intensity, but the way Ranma slowly started to smirk was plenty of evidence that she was starting to feel better.

“Don’t I know it.” Ranma tried to put a swagger in her voice, though her words broke and crackled with her lingering tide of emotions. Reaching a hand up, she cleared her eyes and stood as proudly as she could, holding her arms out once again. “Had ta get it from somewhere, right? Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

Ranma was putting on a brave face as she waited, and Sachiko wasn’t going to make her endure too much more of the boring part of this for long. Running the tape across Ranma again, she got the measurement with ease, forced to double take only once as she ran through the math in her head. 

Though she shouldn’t have been too surprised by Ranma’s apparent cup size. Ranma hadn’t grown these herself, and whoever she’d gone to see for them had clearly been generous. She had no idea how Ranma or her dad afforded any of this, but it didn’t really matter. The question of the hour had been answered. 

“Alright, I guess we can go back out and find you some bras, once you’ve put your top back on. It turns out you’re an F70, which… is certainly impressive for a girl your age.” Sachiko said as Ranma redressed herself, a confident smile on her face at the compliment. 

“Impressive in a good way though, right?” Ranma laughed as she pushed the curtain open, heading back out into the store, though Sachiko wasn’t going to let her get very far.

“You stay here with the things we’ve picked out for you, okay? I’ll just grab you the bras and be right back!”

Convincing Ranma to actually wear a bra was easier than Sachiko expected. The girl politely took the first simple black garment out of Sachiko's hands, grumbled to herself about how pointless it all was in the fitting room, right up until the moment it must have all clicked, and she went perfectly silent save for a soft gasp of understanding. Sachiko wasn't going to make fun of Ranma though, she'd been living like a boy for a while, and undoubtedly neither her father nor any of the boys at her school could have ever explained to her why she might one day want a bra.

The next step after that revelation though was to try on more interesting things. Commandeering a nearby bench, Sachiko had arranged a spread of clothes for Ranma to sort through and slowly find her style. While it was okay if she wanted to keep wearing her last set of boy's clothes, it was clear she'd yet to try embracing the possibilities that came with her new body. The fact that she was anxious around skirts especially surprised Sachiko, considering how frequently she'd walked around in a girl's sailor suit as a boy, but that was fine. They would work up to the things she considered scary by starting with women's shirts and pants.

“Isn't this a lotta clothes? You sure you can spend this much on me?” Ranma asked, nervously clutching the red top she'd picked out, and some fairly loose black pants. “I don't wanna be a burden, I really can get by on a few tank tops and some pants.”

“We're not buying everything, sweetheart, that's why you're trying things on!” Sachiko gave Ranma a pat on the back as she ushered her off towards the dressing room, hoping she could instill Ranma with the confidence to see herself as the pretty girl she was. “So you get started having fun and I'll worry about how much it costs, okay kiddo?”

Ranma nodded as she closed the curtain behind her, and Sachiko simply allowed herself to wait patiently for her ward’s return. Not that she had to be especially patient, with Ranma apparently trained to jump between outfits with record speed.

This first outfit was not a significant departure from the clothes Ranma had come in wearing, though they were more western and much better fitted to her actual body than boy’s silks she'd brought with her. She struck a pose for Sachiko all the same, smirking slightly to herself at how much better she must have felt in garments meant for her. Though it felt rote, Sachiko beamed at her for having the confidence to try something new, passed her another outfit, and got back to waiting.

They had a lot to get through, and while this pretty gingham button up would definitely suit Ranma well, it was simply another step on the road of letting her free herself and embrace whatever self expression called out to her.

But that would take time, and for now Ranma was just enjoying herself, proudly displaying the flowy yellow top she'd been assigned, over a pair of respectably cute shorts she would definitely appreciate having come summer. 

Slowly, outfit after outfit, Sachiko worked her way towards Ranma's first dress as a woman, a dark blue affair that glittered under the light like the night sky full of stars, and when she was finally able to hand that one to Ranma, it was met with far less resistance than Sachiko had expected.

“Is there a special occasion?” Asked the woman working by the dressing room, whose presence Sachiko had practically forgotten about. “Because your daughter looks like she's having a blast.”

“Just appreciating her while I still have her.” Sachiko said, her voice taking on a far more wistful quality than she'd expected.

“Oh, she must have just started high school right? I understand. Only a few more years before she leaves home, marries a good for nothing man, and moves three prefectures over.” Sighed the woman, speaking from far too much experience. Sachiko could only laugh at the idea though. If only her issue was that her daughter was simply almost grown up, and not actually another parent's runaway child full of secrets.

“I’m sure she'll find a nice boy to settle down with, she's got a good head on her shoulders, and a strong right hook.” The thought hit Sachiko that she'd grabbed Ranma plenty of clothes to wear, but if her daughter was into martial arts and gymnastics, she probably needed an athletics outfit of some kind, too. She made a mental note to find one when she had time, still waiting for Ranma to change. 

Though she really should have finished by now.

“That helps, if she can fend all the boys off while looking like that.” The frankly too familiar employee chuckled, and Sachiko could only roll her eyes. Ranma would be just fine, and any boy who didn't know how to take a hint from her would definitely come to regret it. “That's the curse of being pretty though, especially since she’s got your smile.”

“No, I think she got hers from her dad.” Sachiko said, running her tongue over her teeth as soon as her mouth was closed. Ranma didn’t exactly have the Hibiki family fangs, but that was probably for the best. Her smile was brilliant just the way it was. Though, Sachiko probably could find Ranma some fake fangs if she wanted some… but then, how would she even explain giving them to Ranma? Sachiko shrugged to herself to clear her head, it probably wasn’t worth worrying about.

Especially not when Ranma finally walked out from behind the curtain, her eyes wide and shimmering as she looked down over herself, as if she had not had ample time to do so in the mirror. 

“It’s so pretty!” Ranma declared, her voice strangely high as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other in her pursuit of truly capturing the image of herself in it. “N- not that, I mean, what I mean is-”

“It really suits her.” Whispered the employee towards Sachiko, likely only meaning to make a sale, but Sachiko could tune her out, because Sachiko was busy staring.

Ranma stood tall and proud, wearing the brightest smile Sachiko had seen since she’d arrived, and what mother would Sachiko be if she didn’t drink it in, savor the warmth so she could return it a hundredfold to the wonderful girl finding delight in simple things for what may as well have been her first time. Ranma’s attempts at downplaying her joy were fruitless, but it still fell to Sachiko to remove even those obstacles from her path, to convince her that she looked good this way, and she was allowed to think as much.

“You look amazing, kiddo!” Sachiko closed her eyes for a moment, pretending to be blinded by Ranma’s sheer radiance as she prepared for the next step. “Have you tried spinning around in it yet?”

“Spinning?” Ranma asked, momentarily puzzled as her hands grabbed the flowing skirt at the bottom of the dress. “Ain’t that just gonna-”

“It absolutely will.” Sachiko cut her off before she could dwell on anything, making a circular motion with her finger until Ranma finally got the idea and agreed to the notion. The attendant watching them had to be judging Ranma for making it this long without even considering the idea, but she didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered was making Ranma even happier.

Never one for half measures, Ranma took a single step forward before pivoting on her foot, pulling into a brilliantly rapid spin far in excess of what Sachiko had expected, but the end result was still the same. A tiny, almost masked giggling noise fell out of the girl as she kept going, picking up speed as she pirouetted again and again without stopping, finding delight in the way it all moved and flowed, at least until her self consciousness built up enough that she came to a complete stop, rubbing the back of her neck.

“That was kinda silly, sorry about that.” Ranma’s face scrunched up as she tried to rein in her motions, but Sachiko refused to allow that to happen, shaking her head as she moved towards Ranma with yet another pretty dress, this one pink and overly frilly. 

“Don’t apologize, Yoiko, I asked you to do it. It was fun, right?” She grinned down at Ranma, watching the girl think for a moment before nodding in agreement with only the barest amount of reluctance. “Well, I’m having fun too, and I want you to keep going as long as you enjoy it, okay? It’s not very often I get to see my daughter this happy.” 

The weight of the masquerade hit Ranma’s shoulders, weighing her down under the lie and weakening her beautiful smile, but there was little Sachiko could do about it. This was the act around which her kindness needed to be framed right now, and it really wasn’t important whether Ranma thought Sachiko really believed she had a long lost daughter or not. Ranma needed a parent, and Sachiko was more than happy to fill that role, for as long as the girl would let her. “So go on, I’ve got a few more dresses I think you’ll love, and one of those cute skirts that are all the rage with girls your age.” 

“Alright, but can I- would it be okay if I grabbed a few boys’ things, too?” Ranma asked, her eyes briefly lighting up like she was trying to plead for something Sachiko was already all too willing to give her. It figured that Ranma still needed time to embrace being a woman full time, and if she wanted to try to disguise her true nature under a shell of oversized boys’ clothes, it wasn’t actually that hard to help her. “N- not that I- I’m just kind of a tomboy, you know, and I think that they might be nice, or…”

“Of course dear, after we try all these on, we can go grab whatever else you think you need, okay kiddo? Just don’t get too excited, they don’t usually let boys dress this nice.” Sachiko laughed as Ranma once more nodded, turning to take her dress back into the fitting room, leaving Sachiko alone once again, with only her ever wider grin for company.

She shouldn’t have been enjoying being kind to another person’s child as much as she was, but there was a pure joy in watching Ranma’s first steps through femininity that she had to see, wanted to cultivate and encourage. Ranma had always presented herself as a brilliant and proud figure, but for the first time since Sachiko had met her, she was truly starting to shine, and who on this Earth could refuse seeing that joy in a young woman starting to blossom? 

This, she was sure, had to be what those doctors in Thailand felt as they worked their magic.

Standing in line to pay and leave, Ranma awkwardly rocked on the heel of his new flats, eager to finally leave this terrible place after an hour or two of doing nothing but putting on cute clothes and flaunting what fate bestowed upon his cursed side. Not that he actually hated the experience or anything, he’d needed to get ahold of some new clothes and that was technically what had happened, but he’d had to spend a lot of time slipping in and out of obnoxiously girly outfits for just a simple stack of men’s tank tops and some unisex pants that would fit either side of him. 

And, it meant he was going to own things he really really didn’t need. Like all the bras he now owned, simple plain colored ones, a couple frilly showy ones he was certain he would never touch, and a pile of bras Mrs. Hibiki had assured him were for sports—one of which he was still wearing so as to avoid changing any more than he had to. And that was just the undergarments, he was also stuck putting up with a bunch of dresses, including the shiny blue dress he’d been coerced into wearing out that had made Mrs. Hibiki really happy and had caused him no small amount of introspection in the mirror.

But only a little, enough to remind himself that he was a man, just a man wearing girly outfits for personal gain, and sure he was stuck in the body of something pretty and cute instead of handsome and rugged, but that was fine, actually. That meant he wasn’t actually repeating those mistakes of his youth where he put dresses on over a boy’s body, this wasn’t crossdressing, it was just dressing the body he had how society expected so he could more elegantly drift through it taking whatever he needed to get by. 

Lost in thought, Ranma almost didn't notice as the woman in front of them paid and stepped forward, clutching her belongings and her purse, leaving Mrs. Hibiki next in line. Everything was almost over. He could almost start busying himself mentally with getting the two home, then packing up his things, and vanishing into the night. Mrs. Hibiki had been awful nice, but with food and clothes under his belt, he needed absolutely nothing else to get his trip underway. Hell, he was basically halfway to Jusenkyo now that-

The scream of a woman from just outside the store's front doors shocked him back to the present, where he had a front row seat to her impotent attempts at chasing after a man who had just stolen her purse. Getting robbed wasn't unusual in cities—Ranma had been around crime a fair bit in his life—but he wasn't in the business of letting someone make women cry like that. 

Before he could even think about the ramifications, Ranma dropped into a sprint and raced out the door, turning a corner in hot pursuit of the fool who thought he could get away with this on Ranma's watch. Ahead, the would-be crook jumped fences with the ease of a practiced thief but not a martial artist. At first Ranma simply took the jumps in stride—even than normal actually, his new bra admittedly reducing much of the pain he’d come to expect with being an active girl—doing the bare minimum to effortlessly clear each one while staying hot on the panicked man's trail, but the chase was increasingly boring, drawing yawns, flips, and poses out of a Ranma who could have taken this man down a while ago.

But not yet, he needed to end up at just the right spot. Subtly, Ranma guided him, putting on bursts of speed to make his decision making increasingly difficult, occasionally vanishing from behind him so Ranma could suddenly spring from his left or right, all to bring him back near to where they'd started. Ranma needed the woman to be able to hear the scuffle and get her purse after all, and the best place to do that was going to be the upcoming alleyway on the left, clearly visible from the store the man had meant to be fleeing from.

With the trap as set as it was going to get, Ranma actually gave it his all, jumping clean over an intervening building, where he could land just in front of his poor target with a flourish.

“End of the line buddy, you had your fun.” Ranma did a few stretches just for show, reveling in the sheer superiority he had over the crook. “Tell you what, you hand me the purse, and we’ll both  forget you did anything stupid.”

The fact that present circumstances forced him to look up at the man was frustrating, but he stuck his hand out regardless, expectantly awaiting the man to make the objective right choice when faced by a true disciple of Anything-Goes martial arts. Of course, thieves and crooks didn’t exactly always make the right choice or know when they were in over their heads, and a terrible sneer formed on the man’s lips as finally got a clear view of the person who had been chasing him.

“Get outta my way, girlie, I’d hate ta hafta ruin a pretty face like yours.” The man reached into his coat, drawing a completely unimpressive knife that absolutely wouldn’t help him, and Ranma simply sighed and rolled his eyes. He’d met guys who were genuinely scary with a blade, but this pinnacle of underworld mediocrity wasn’t one of them. The way he clutched his knife was too amateurish, Ranma could already tell his attempts at lunging were just going to leave him overextended, and against someone else equally armed he was probably going to end up with two daggers to the gut before he had time to think. 

“I’m tellin’ ya man, it doesn’t have to be like this.” Ranma replied, trying to put on his tough guy voice in spite of his current biological situation. To reinforce his point, Ranma finally dropped into one of his favorite Anything-Goes openers, preparing himself for the fool to make the first move. Idly Ranma had to consider that if he knew how to flash his battle aura more consistently, maybe what was about to happen could have been avoided, but it wasn’t his responsibility to be intimidating enough to keep fools in line. The crook had to learn eventually.

With half lidded eyes, Ranma yawned and looked away from the man, granting the guy the perfect opportunity to try and rush past him. The crook swept with his knife instead of stabbing out some misplaced attempt at going easy on Ranma, but it wasn’t going to help him. Sliding under the blow and twisting, Ranma grabbed the man’s wrist with one arm, slammed his other palm hard into the guy’s elbow, and effortlessly tossed him onto the ground in a single fluid motion that left the man knifeless and writhing on the ground. 

“Don’t be such a baby, ain’t like I broke anything. You can fix a dislocation, right?” Ranma said with a smirk, snatching up the purse as he started walking off towards the woman who was already running towards him. There was one other reason why he’d wanted to stage this battle in this particular alleyway, and that was that the midway point between him and the poor lady he’d set out to help was a FamilyMart. 

“Wow!” The woman exclaimed, still catching her breath from the brief bout of jogging she'd tried before giving up. “Did you really get my purse back? H- how- Thank you!”

“Oh don't mention it, nothing I couldn’t handle.” Ranma tossed her the bag with a flourish, planting the seeds of a confident and capable little good vigilante in her mind. “I used to do kempo in middle school, the poor guy never stood a chance.”

He laughed at the ridiculousness of a man even trying to stab the pinnacle of martial perfection he represented, putting just the right lingering image in the mind of a woman struggling to figure out how to repay Ranma for what was honestly something he would have done anyway.

“Is there any way I can repay you, dear? I was almost in a lot of trouble!” The woman tilted her head back and forth as she entered the final stages of figuring out a reward, which left her wide open to Ranma gently tilting his head towards the convenience store.

“I promise it's not a big deal, but if you really want to do something for me, I guess a snack from the kombini couldn't hurt.” Ranma hid his grin as the woman grabbed the bait with a simple smile and nod, escorting him inside the FamilyMart as she politely waited for him to hem and haw at the possibilities. The vast array was staggering, but could eliminate plenty of options off the bat. Onigiri were too simple, melon bread was sweeter than he currently craved, a katsu sandwich almost sounded right, but it lacked something crucial he'd been craving since swimming back from China.

Only one thing could fill the void in his heart, and that was a pizza bun, piping hot.

The woman seemed all too pleased with his selection, paying for his tasty treat without even considering that she'd been tricking into parting with her cold hard yen.

As she left however, and his meal sat warming up behind the counter, a sudden crash stole him and the woman behind the counter from their dull cheesy tomato scented reverie. A man cursed in the backroom, and as the cashier opened the door to check, Ranma couldn't believe his luck.

The fool had spilled a pallet of rice on the floor, sending heavy—but thankfully intact—bags every which way. Fixing this would have taken minutes of frustrating labor, for a normal person. Ranma however saw opportunity wrapped inside eighteen kilo bags, and he wasted no time seizing his moment of glory.

“Oh no!” Ranma placed his hands against his cheeks in over embellished surprise, watching at the man who’d caused the mess stared over the scene in shock, and the cashier took a deep breath at the extended bout of manual labor that awaited her. “Do you need help?!”

He didn't actually waste time waiting for a response. Ducking past the employees on duty, he made a big show of the effort involved in hefting the first bag back into position, slowly picking up speed and effortless grace as he went.

“Hold on… miss you really shouldn't be back here.” Said the man, too confused by the turn of events to actually stop Ranma. 

“As a customer you really shouldn't be straining yourself.” Added the cashier, though her words simply emboldened Ranma to reveal more and more of his power, showing just how simple this whole activity was as he started hauling around two or three bags per hand.

“I insist! This is a really big job for one person.” Ranma said, hiding his smug pride at doing that really big job by himself. As far as he was concerned this was just training, and after days of nothing but hiking cross country he honestly appreciated getting to fit in some weightlifting. The fact that he was undoubtedly going to scam a bit of food out of these people was just icing on the cake 

For someone like Ranma this task really wasn't anything more than a couple minutes worth of work, and before anyone worked up the nerve to try to stop him again, he'd already finished.

“Woah, thanks kid. You really didn't have to do all that.” Finally said the cashier once Ranma's work was complete and they'd returned back to the front of the register. “Yoshino and I could have taken care of it on our own, I swear… but you saved us a lot of work.”

“All in a day’s work! I didn't do anything out of the ordinary.” Ranma put on the brightest, most chipper smile he had, trying to seem for all the world like a kind and helpful soul without ulterior motives.

The woman paused, already trying to figure out what bribe would buy Ranma's silence on the matter of their little accident, and he didn't even have to say anything before a suitable tribute was provided. 

Ranma left the store with his pizza bun, a bean bun, and two bottles of tea. It wasn't bad for a scant few minutes of effort, though it was just another notch in his belt, one in a long line of victories he'd won in the area of Anything-Goes Hustling.

Now he could get back to- well he'd just been-

A lightbulb flickered on in Ranma's skull, and he turned his attention back to the department store, where Mrs. Hibiki stood holding all of the clothes they'd just bought. Cursing himself for leaving a nice woman stuck waiting for him like that, he raced over to her with a smile on his face and his gifts held high.

“Sorry about that mom, I had to help a few people out!” He preemptively said in his defense, fearing anger or backlash from Mrs. Hibiki just like pops would have done if he'd wandered off from an assigned task. “But look! I got us a snack!”

While a greedy part of him would have gladly kept all the food for himself, that was only because he and his old man fought for food all the time. Mrs. Hibiki deserved a fair share of the spoils since she'd been nothing but nice to him the last couple of days.

“I’m just glad you're okay! Running after a criminal like that isn't safe.” Replied Mrs. Hibiki as she grabbed the bean bun from Ranma's hand. “Then again, you are a martial artist like your brother, I guess I shouldn't worry.”

Sighing, Mrs. Hibiki failed to hide a smirk of pride and satisfaction as Ranma started leading her off, guiding the two back to her home, and Ranma couldn't help but revel in it. It didn't mean very much, Mrs. Hibiki was just a normal woman, but she was proud of him!

Finally home and in the guest room after the ordeal that was shopping for clothes, Ranma had to resist the overwhelming temptation to sprawl out on the bed and take a well deserved nap. Unfortunately he had far more pressing matters to attend to. Mrs. Hibiki was watching some Korean drama out in the living room, and while Ranma had been invited to join her, he'd instead made his excuses and sequestered himself away under the guise of unloading all the clothes he'd been given.

Which he admittedly was doing, but he has a deeper purpose beyond simply filling his wardrobe. He was rifling through bags, tossing aside every useless dress, skirt, or blouse he had left, so he could get at the delicious nugget of acceptably male clothes buried underneath. He had to get back to China soon, and he was leaving as soon as he was packed. 

It shouldn't have been that hard to find the tank tops he'd asked for, and yet try as he might, each fresh handful of clothes gave him some different thing he didn't need. That cute red top was not going to work for a boy, nor would the stack of bras, the tall socks, the pink dress, or-

Ranma didn't know how to emotionally handle the vibrantly green girl's leotard that he'd somehow come into the possession of—he certainly hadn't tried it on—but before he could figure it out he saw the neon pink tights, ruffly top, and fluffy leg warmers that were supposed to go with it. There was no reason for him to have these, clothes like this were for…

Gymnastics, and probably would have been serviceable for a bunch of different workouts too. He cursed his earlier ‘interests’ for being used against him in this way, but it was a sweet gesture. Mrs. Hibiki either didn't realize or understand that he would have rather had a new dougi instead of this ensemble, but she knew he needed something to train and practice in all the same.

His smile was ultimately broken by a sigh at just how thoroughly he'd taken advantage of her kindness. He felt bad, especially with all the wasted clothing he wasn't taking, but it had to happen this way. When he was cured of Jusenkyo and a whole man again he was going to march all the way back over to this house, apologize to Mrs. Hibiki and pay her back for all of her kindness. Until then, he could comfort himself in knowing that it wasn't like he'd actually stolen that much from her. 

Assuming she was told she never had a daughter and she'd been tricked, she could just march back down to that store with the receipt and get all of her money back! Then Ranma only had to deal with a tiny physical debt and the emotional fallout of making her briefly think she really did have a second child! His face scrunched up at the weight of that second pain though, he wasn't a parent and wasn't ever going to be—he refused to be a deadbeat dad like pops—but losing a kid was probably going to hurt Mrs. Hibiki hard. Her real son already wasn't ever around, and unlike Ranma's dad, she didn't deserve her kids just up and ditching her out of nowhere…

Maybe, if he could shoulder paying her back for more money, he should just keep writing to her from the road, sending her letters from little Yoiko. Then the imaginary girl would live on a little longer. 

Shaking his head to free himself from that pointless train of thought, Ranma pulled himself back to the task at hand. He wasn't done packing yet, he could be wistful once he was back on the road. The next thing out of the first bag was the stack of pants he'd been looking for—and he was going to want to change out of this dress and into them as soon as he was able—followed by a brand new pack to keep his things in, and a long tube.

He had absolutely no memory of the tube ever entering the stack of things Mrs. Hibiki had planned to purchase, but curiosity compelled him to unfurl it instead of simply tossing it aside. Slowly but surely it revealed its terrible secrets to him: a large poster of some martial artist guy with more than a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee. This was probably a still from a recent movie or something, but he couldn't name it off hand, having been fairly out of the loop as far as movies went during his trip to China. Still, it looked cool, and it only had one practical reason to exist in his things. Mrs. Hibiki had bought it for him because she remembered him mentioning martial arts, and she figured some dreamy fighter type was the kind of heartthrob her daughter was into.

It was a nice gesture, but he was a guy at heart, and that meant he was still into girls.  

Gently setting the poster down with the other stuff he wasn't bringing, he had to turn his attention to the next bag, this one unfortunately overloaded with skirts. He would have ignored the whole thing, but it also had his tank tops somewhere within, and he was going to need those. Digging deep, his hand hit something hard and compact instead of flowy garment, and once again the wonder in his heart bid him to pull it out despite how unlikely it was he needed it.

What he found in his hand was a simple container of brushes and makeup, foundations, blushes, lipstick, eyeshadows and eyeliners, none of which he actually needed or remotely wanted! Then again, despite his innate resistance to them as a concept, he actually found himself putting them down in the pile of things he wanted to bring with him. No, he didn't need to be pretty, cute, sultry, seductive, or whatever else, but they would help him flirt for food, a boat ride, or a passenger seat on a truck heading out into the Bayankala mountains. The makeup was a means to an end and nothing more.

That terrible compromise between function and his pride as a man out of the way, Ranma once again pushed his hand deep into the bag, pulling up the first thick stack of clothes he could find, though all that did was bring him face to face with a brand new collection of women's undergarments. They fell out of his hand immediately as he closed his eyes and sighed, trying not to think too much about the expectation that he actually wear those going forward. He wasn't sticking around, Mrs. Hibiki wasn't going to be able to make him do that… but also he only had one pair of men's boxers. He was going to need to swipe more when he left, there wasn't any other option beyond actually-

The thought terminated in Ranma's head as a knock rang out through the house, heavy and rhythmic. It wasn't coming from the door to his bedroom, it was emanating from the front of the house, tapped out with a demanding thud over and over. Ranma had no idea who could possibly be bothering the Hibiki family with such intensity, the neighbors had to know they were never around, and Ryoga or Mr. Hibiki probably had keys.

The mystery didn't hold for long though, as the sound of Mrs. Hibiki racing down the hall arrived at the front door, and Ranma's whole body tensed up at what he heard on the other side.

Extremely grateful that she was watching missed episodes she’d recorded on tape instead of anything live, Sachiko begrudgingly paused her show as some stranger saw fit to interrupt her quiet night. The door wasn’t locked, but even if it was, family would have known where the many, many emergency keys to the house were hidden, so she had low hopes for whoever this could be. Strolling up to the door, Sachiko opened the door with a kind grin, though the person standing on the other side hardly deserved it.

“Can I help you?” Sachiko asked before the door finished opening, though she found herself staring up at the weathered face of an all too familiar traveler clad in the same kind of white dougi and bandana he wore the only other time the two had met. “Oh, it’s you, Mr. Saotome! To what do I owe this surprise? It’s good to see you back in Tokyo.”

“Good to see you too, Mrs… Hibiki.” Genma replied, only briefly stumbling over the family name of his son’s former best friend. Acting quickly, Sachiko stepped outside with him, closing the door behind her. It might have been kinder to take this conversation in the genkan, but she didn’t want to run the slightest risk that Ranma accidentally ended up in Genma’s field of view until she was ready. Besides, Sachiko didn’t exactly owe Genma any kindness. “Yes, I was hoping me and the boy could settle down finally, and I thought this might be as good a place as any- which is to-” 

Genma coughed and straightened his outfit, briefly lowering himself to pleading as he leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him as tears started to pour from his eyes. “Have you seen Ranma anywhere ma’am, anywhere at all?! I don’t know where my son is, and I’m worried sick!”

Son stuck out to Sachiko all too poignantly, and she had to fight off her contempt. Instead she opted to display nothing but vapid kindness, hoping that a man like Genma would read her as a clueless mark instead of something who knew more than she was supposed to. Part of her wanted to just flat out tell him no, turn him back out to the road, or castigate him for not respecting his own sweet daughter… 

But he was also her single best source of information for what was going on with Ranma, while Ranma was still being so cagey and closed off.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen any sons lately, did something happen?” She put a finger against her chin and tilted her head, pointing her gaze a million kilometers past Genma as she tried to keep disdain from her voice. “Did Ranma run away from home? That’s not like Ranma, is it?”

"Yes! No! Er- I don’t know! I don’t know where he is, ma’am! We got into a small, insignificant, extremely minor scuffle, and by the time I came to he was long gone! I can’t imagine where he is or what he’s doing, he could be camping under bridges, praying the rain doesn’t overflow the river, fighting with cats for table scraps!” Genma’s voice picked up genuine anxiety and speed in equal measure as he went, his eyes suddenly turning around the city, already tracing where the next possible place to check might be. “Ranma’s a resourceful boy, but he doesn’t even have any gear! The fool lost all of it when he so brutally attacked me out of nowhere! He could be starving, sick, hurt, cold, freezing to death, or-”

“Calm down Mr. Saotome, you just said Ranma knows how to survive out there.” Sachiko hated that she was caught in the middle of this mess, because despite it all she did have pity for the man. Having a wayward child was hard, she’d learned that first hand over the years, but that also meant she knew one had to keep their hope up. Ranma would go back to Genma when she was ready, and all he could do until then was let her spread her wings and soar on her own…

At least, that’s the way Sachiko liked to think about her own child, but she too would have moved the heavens if that would bring him home and keep him there, let him live a normal life. “There was a fight? What was it about? Maybe you’re worried over nothing and Ranma just needs a day or two of space. Then again, if I knew, I might be able to think of a few places Ranma might go to run away from it.”

“I wish I could explain it to you Mrs. Hibiki, but it’s a very complicated situation.” Genma began, certainly trying to avoid having to explain to her that he had a daughter now, which was undoubtedly the primary reason Ranma would run away from her family. If he wasn’t willing to talk however, she was just going to shrug and turn around to walk back inside, leaving him with the elements and his fears. She wasn’t going to side with him without a very compelling reason. “B- but I suppose I can tell you a little. The last thing I remember, the boy was furious that we were going to see a friend of mine here in Tokyo. He doesn’t understand how important it is that we set him up for his future! We were going to grab a nice place to live, put him through school!”

“Oh! Were you finally going to buy a home? Good for you, Mr. Saotome, Ranma really does deserve better than a storage closet in a rundown house.”  Sachiko smiled, trying to pointedly remind the man of the conditions he forced his son to put up with just a couple years ago. There was a reason she’d asked Ryoga to invite Ranma over as frequently as possible, Ranma really needed space to grow. “I’m surprised Ranma would run away from just that, though.”

“W- well yes, technically we’d just be in a guestroom.” Genma replied, thoroughly dashing Sachiko’s hopes that he was actually learning from his mistakes. Whoever this ‘friend’ of his was, the house was probably going to be another poor home for Ranma to suffer in. “B- but, but, that’s not a problem! We would only be freeloading until Ranma inherited it! Then it would be his home!”

Inheritance! Sachiko hadn’t expected Genma could possibly be related to anyone of means such that Ranma might actually end up the primary heir of some cousin, uncle, or distant grandfather… and, Genma wasn’t. He’d referred to the person as just his friend.  

“Hm, is Ranma supposed to win it in some kind of challenge or tournament? Maybe Ranma just needs a bit more time to practice and train before making the attempt.” Sachiko closed her eyes as she jumped to the kindest conclusion she could think of. Ranma certainly wasn’t doing any practicing in her home, but that was still the only way she could see Ranma ending up owning any kind of land while she was still under Genma’s thumb. 

“No, no no, nothing like that, he doesn’t really have to do anything, I’ve already set it all up for him!” Genma declared, boldly standing up straight and smirking at his own ingenuity, leaving Sachiko blinking in confusion. “I’ve gotten him engaged to my dear old friend’s daughter, he’ll inherit all their property, he’s just gotta sit still long enough to get married!”

There it was. Ranma was being expected to meet and eventually marry some other girl when she came of age in another four years, but she was a woman now, and that was going to put a damper on her father’s idyllic vision of the future. Whether or not he’d noticed his daughter’s change—though Sachiko had no idea how could have failed to see it—Ranma was clearly both unable and unwilling to see such a thing through, forced to beat her father up and run off before she could ever be outed to some friend of the family. 

“Oh, I’m sorry your omiai meeting fell through. Perhaps Ranma’s just not ready to think about marriage?” Sachiko tried to let Genma down warmly, concealing her disappointment that he was willing to trade his own child’s chance at love for some miserable house, and especially that he was willing to do it while Ranma was just fifteen. “I’m sure he just needs a few days to cool off, and if you cancel the meeting he might think a lot better of you for it.”

“This isn’t an omiai. There’s no need for matchmaking, Ranma’s already engaged.” Genma declared, folding his arms in some attempted mixture of self assurance and stubborn dedication to his path, though Sachiko could only glare at where she felt the implication was going. “It’s been arranged since before he was born. Ranma will pioneer the union between two noble schools, guide us to a golden age of martial arts, and-”

“And inherit a chunk of land in Tokyo?” Sachiko sighed, cutting off Genma’s attempted justification of what was clearly an economic decision behind theatrics. Sachiko somehow wasn’t actually surprised that the reason for the fight ultimately boiled down to the pursuit of money, though she had held out hopes it was something solvable, or at least understandable.

He didn’t care about his daughter, didn’t even respect her as a daughter, she was a bargaining chip he had always planned to trade—at least so he said, Sachiko had never heard Ranma talk about being engaged before, she she had her doubts this wasn’t a brand new arrangement—and now he was alone. His meal ticket was gone. His ‘friend’ or loanshark or whoever they were would undoubtedly come to collect, and he had no Ranma to trade. 

What a pity.

Sachiko tried not to grin as she prepared to end things, eager to get this interaction over with. She had a daughter to look after, and she couldn’t spend all this time talking with Genma. “I’m so sorry. I hope you and Ranma figure out your differences soon. Would you like me to call you if I learn anything?”  

“Yes, I would appreciate that ma’am. Ranma’s not as tough as he thinks he is, he’ll get lonely! And… I think this is the first place he would turn.” Genma dug around in his pockets, a mixture of defeat and hope coursing through him as he produced a sheet of paper with a phone number on it. “When he shows up, please give this number a call. If I’m not there, one of his future in-laws will pick up. Thank you so much Mrs. Hibiki, it’s a big relief knowing someone else is out there looking out for him.”

“Of course. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find Ranma soon. Good luck and goodbye, Mr. Saotome.” With one last nod, Sachiko accepted the paper, quickly sliding back into the house so as to prevent him from even possibly seeing Yoiko on the other side. For once sighing in relief, Sachio walked back into the house, and turned towards the living room where she saw Yoiko patiently waiting. 

“Who was that, mom?” Yoiko asked with a nervousness that implied she knew all too well, a reminder that people like Yoiko or Ryoga could usually pick out even quiet conversations through walls and doors, and she’d probably been eavesdropping on purpose. 

“No one you need to worry about, kiddo. I promise.” Sachiko sat down next to Yoiko, and gave the girl a quick reassuring hug. “He’s just someone who used to live around here.”

Chapter Text

Ranma stared at Mrs. Hibiki as she resumed her show without another word, trying to read her expression for any sign of what was going on. She hadn't sold him out—he would have heard if she had—and her insinuating that Yoiko didn't need to know about pops told him that she definitely didn't suspect a damn thing about his true identity…

But she'd offered to call if she found Ranma, clearly cared about pops’ plight enough to try to reunite him with his runaway kid. He couldn't really fault her for it, she was a parent with a missing kid too, but that didn't mean he liked it.

She—and who knew how many other people around Suginami—was now officially a snitch, and at the first sign that he wasn't who he was pretending to be, he expected pops or these mystery in-laws to start hunting him down like hounds after a cat. Even if he could evade them, they were going to cost him a lot of time and energy. He either needed to leave now before anyone could narrow down their searches… or try to lay low, and hope his old man went ahead to China without him.

Ranma cursed that he didn't have enough time before the rain struck yesterday to figure out who he actually was engaged to, but he could kind of guess. Any old friend of pops was gonna be on the wrong side of the law, some kinda criminal, thief, or fence. As much as Ranma usually considered those kinda people family, that meant he couldn't rely on them at the moment either. If he tried to turn anywhere other than the Hibikis, they were gonna need to be moral upstanding citizens for him to even have a shot at safety, but not moral enough to toss him back in with his old man.

He didn't like it, but the safest place for him to be was right here, sitting on the couch, watching TV with Mrs. Hibiki. She'd already gotten a bowl of popcorn prepared, so it wasn't too much effort for him to get cozy on the couch and try to soak it all up, except of course for the fact that he didn't understand a damn thing about the characters or plot. He considered asking to be filled in on what he missed, but he couldn't really imagine getting much out of that besides learning a lot of extra information he was going to need to remember to keep his cover up for the next few weeks. 

“Did you want me to put something on for you, Yoiko?” Mrs. Hibiki asked after a few minutes of Ranma obviously only half paying attention to her chosen show. “It’s on tape, I can always get back to it later.”

“Oh no, that’s okay. I haven’t really gotten to watch anything for a while, so this is as good as anything else.” Ranma replied with a shrug, leaning on his own wanderer lifestyle to hopefully match what a real Yoiko would be saying. “Or I can leave, if you wanted to watch this alone. I don't mean ta be botherin’ you.”

“You’re not a bother at all, kiddo, I just wasn't sure if romantic dramas were your thing.” Mrs. Hibiki laughed, and Ranma made a note that his fake mom liked romantic fiction or whatever, just in case that knowledge was useful. It also meant the show was gonna make a lot more sense as he pieced together the tangled love triangles, because he'd read enough mushy stuff himself on the road that he had a knack for this kinda thing.

“I’m a girl, ain't I? Of course there's romance in my heart!” Ranma said in the most singsong voice he could manage, hoping to sell just how different he was from the tough rough-and-tumble boy Mrs. Hibiki was looking for. “I'm sure I'll put the plot together in a minute, so don't worry about it.”

Mrs. Hibiki accepted his embodiment of a stereotypical girly girl with a kind nod as she resumed fixating on her soapy romantic melodrama, letting Ranma sit in silence munching popcorn and pet Shirokuro while he was next to her. He had to admit, it was a lot better than he'd expected, and honestly if keeping his cover necessitated sitting through a couple hours of this before his fake mom decided to cook them dinner, he'd manage.

He just needed to remember to climb into those workout clothes she got him afterwards, and try to fit in some training out in the yard. He might have been spinning his wheels right now, but that was no excuse for him to slack off on his training.

The rest of the afternoon passed simply for Sachiko, all she really had to do after all that shopping was make dinner for everyone, keep an eye on her kiddo while the girl went through her katas out in the yard, and ensure Yoiko actually went to bed on time again—which honestly wasn't that hard compared to the day prior, Yoiko must have been realizing why people tried to fit in a full eight hours if they could help it.

Of course Sachiko once again didn't have that right, she needed to do a little more late night skullduggery to make sure everything worked out for the best. According to a postcard her husband had sent, he was supposed to get off the train in Suginami a week ago, which meant he was going to be here sometime in the next five days, and she really couldn't have him screwing up what she was trying to do for poor Yoiko.

So, she walked over to the family phone, paged her husband so he'd know to call her when he got the chance, and waited. It was going to be a long wait, she knew the odds of him being right next to a payphone were limited, but he was usually good enough at asking to be led to one of those that it couldn't have taken more than a couple hours, enough time for her to grab a drink, heat up some leftovers, and read a little.

She wasn't fully aware of how much time had passed when the rattling of the telephone pulled her away from a saucy paragraph she'd been enjoying, but she dropped the book immediately to race off to answer it before the ringing could get anyone else's attention.

“Hello, Hibiki house, can I help you?” Sachiko asked, despite having a pretty good idea of just about the only person who would be calling this late at night. 

“It's me, honey. Sorry I took so long, you wouldn't believe where they hide payphones these days!” He spoke with the same exasperation he always had whenever he needed to find a phone, but Sachiko could hardly blame him. She knew first hand how hard it was to find the damn things when they weren't clearly marked and obviously labeled. “Anyway, you asked me to call, right? Did something happen? Do you need me to call a cab and rush home?”

“Oh no dear, it's nothing urgent, some stuff just came up and I thought you might want to know about it before you got home.” Sachiko tapped her fingers on the table as she considered the best way to say what she needed to say, slightly mad at herself for not using this time to plan. “So… do you remember Ranma Saotome?”

“I think so. That's the boy Ryoga was friends with, right? Or, I guess they're nemeses now? What about him? Did Ryoga finally find the boy?! Is he coming home?!” Her husband's voice picked up speed as he talked himself into what probably sounded like a pleasant turn on events, but Sachiko needed to stop him before he got too excited.

“Not yet, Taiga, relax.” Sachiko sighed as she prepared herself, knowing she was going to have to fight her husband's misconceptions about the situation too. “You know their rivalry just got out of hand. In fact, I bet they'll be best friends again as soon as they catch back up with each other, Ryoga can just be a little headstrong once he sets his mind to something.”

“He got that from you, you know…” Taiga laughed quietly to himself on the other end, and Sachiko could only roll her eyes. She wasn't stubborn just because she liked to go with her gut! “Fine, they're just friends who want to hit each other, what brought this up?”

“So I know what this sounds like, so let me finish… but she's been going by Yoiko now, and she's bloomed into her real self while she's been gone…” Sachiko considered leaning further into metaphor, attempting to describe a caterpillar becoming a beautiful butterfly, but being direct was probably going to be faster. “I think she went to Thailand.”

“What?”

“You know, she got The Surgery. Honestly, it's like she traded bodies with a twin sister, whoever did it for her was really good at their job.” Sachiko flicked her hand from side to side for emphasis, not that her husband could see, though all her words earned her was a confused grunt from her husband and yet another question.

“Okay. So, Ranma's a-”

“Yoiko.”

“Yoiko is a girl now.” Taiga said, his voice so flat he was probably rubbing his temples as he stood in the phonebooth. “That's great for her, I hope it doesn't get in the way of her and Ryoga's friendship… b- but why was that something you needed to tell me right now?”

“Oh, sorry, right! Mr. Saotome evidently doesn't agree with who she is, so she's run away from home and…” Sachiko trailed off to give her husband time to prepare himself for the role of being the girl’s guardian before she continued, but he ended up talking before she did.

“And you couldn't help but take her in and give her a place to stay?” Her husband laughed softly after his accusation, and Sachiko couldn't help but join him. He was kind of wrong, but it was close enough to correct that he was definitely going to understand once she got a chance to explain further. “Okay dear, I hope you can help the poor girl find a relative willing to take her in, tell her I said hi. I've gotta go, there's a line forming behind me. Goodnight Sachi, I love you!”

The call died as her husband hung up before she could say anything else, leaving her to sigh. He was a good man, and he'd understand her taking Yoiko in for a while just as soon as he remembered how sweet and kind the girl could be. 

Maybe she did need to try to get in touch with Yoiko's family though, dig through the girl's family registry to find any living relatives, that would have been the fastest way to get Yoiko back into someone else’s hands, but Sachiko just wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Yoiko was in a vulnerable stage of her life, she’d just figured out who she wanted to be, and all it would take would be for the girl’s real mom to be some kind of monster to potentially damage the girl’s wellbeing permanently. And that was the best option, she could hardly imagine how cruel Genma’s parents must have been to shape him into the kind of man who wouldn’t accept or tolerate his own daughter struggling to live her truth, would they really be any better, or would Sachiko have just been sending to the girl off to suffer somewhere else?

Besides, Yoiko had already been practically family before she left Suginami, she was already basically Ryoga’s sister. It really wasn’t much work to feed and clothe her for as long as she needed, and if that ended up being until Yoiko was an adult, if she really did decide there wasn’t anywhere better in the world than here… 

Who was Sachiko to stand in her way? Why would she refuse such a kind and caring daughter the opportunity to grow up somewhere safe and stable, to attend school and set herself up for a real future beyond simple fisticuffs on the road? 

Whatever Yoiko wanted to do, to stay or leave, Sachiko would support her, but that also meant setting her up for as much success as possible. Right now, Yoiko didn’t really legally exist, and even her identity as Ranma was more or less a lie, all housed on scraps of paper that didn’t reflect her material reality. What Yoiko needed right now was to be real, more than a fiction the two of them were telling each other. Then she could go to the doctor, go to school, or really think about her future as just another one of the Hibikis…

And if she ever decided to leave, no one would question why one of the eternally lost clan up and vanished without a trace, however frightening that reality was to the rest of the family. 

Taking a deep breath, she slammed back the last of her drink, and accepted the truth. Sachiko had to do it. She was going to make Yoiko real. She had a pretty good idea of how to do it, she just needed a little bit of money, and to talk to a few people she knew. It was fine, nobody was going to ever even know she’d done it, and absolutely no part of this could go wrong.

But first, she was going to call Taiga’s pager, send him a quick ‘I love you’ back, and then she was going to sleep so she could be well rested for the task ahead…

While Ranma knew that the simple life of a normal girl wasn't usually hectic or exhausting, he was completely unprepared for the banality of such a life. He ate dinner, worked out as much as he was able, bathed—while doing everything in his power to make sure Mrs. Hibiki couldn't catch him on his guy side—slept on his soft bed, woke up, worked out, ate, grabbed a random mystery novel out of the bookshelf and read it, lounged around the house until boredom drove him to work out again, took Mrs. Hibiki to a couple of stores, watched more TV with Mrs. Hibiki, ate dinner, bathed, and slept, all without ever really feeling like he was in danger or being challenged. 

A little simple rest and relaxation was going to be fine for a few more days. After all the effort he and pops had spent running to Tokyo as fast—though more importantly as cheaply—as possible, he did deserve a break, it was just a question of how long he could tolerate laying low here before he had to leave. Maybe if he knew somebody he could pick a fight with he could drag things out a little longer, entertain at least the martial artist in his soul, but just about the only fight he knew where to find at this point was with pops.

In the meantime, however, he was going to need to placate his desire for action and movement by taking care of things around the house. He had no idea how a place like this collected so much damn dust in just a couple days, but he started by diligently dusting all the major areas, and when that was done he still had energy to burn that he could only really channel by sweeping up around the house. Of course, even that was no match for a dedicated Anything-Goes practitioner, and he soon found himself without any real tasks… until he noticed just how dirty the rugs were getting.

Rolling everything up was easy, and from there all he had to do was take them outside and start beating all the dirt and mess out of them that he could. Honestly, this was the closest he'd had to a training dummy in a while, and he threw himself into a series of punches and kicks that could have shattered boulders, all instead tuned to the needs of a domestic martial artist—not that he would ever consent to having that term applied to him.

He lost himself in the task so thoroughly that he lost track of time, and the only thing that brought him back into tune with the rest of the world was Mrs. Hibiki clearing her throat behind him. He paused mid kick, his foot still high in the air as craned his neck to face her. 

“What are you doing, kiddo?” Mrs. Hibiki asked, folding her arms and tilting her head as she took in the scene before her.

“J- just combining chores and practice, that's all. I realize you're supposed to beat rugs with a stick, but…” Ranma trailed off as he let his leg fall, allowing himself to stand meekly in front of his faux mother. If she was mad at him, he probably deserved it, but that wasn't going to make it feel good.

“After you did all that other cleaning up around the house?” Mrs. Hibiki sighed and shook her head, though he could see the corners of her mouth start to turn faintly upward. “Yoiko, you know I don't expect you to do everything around here, right? Everyone needs to help out a little, do their fair share, and be in harmony… but you're still just a kid. You should be out with your friends, going shopping, enjoying your youth.”

Ranma wasn't sure how to feel about the lecture as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, trying to figure out how to refute her argument. This was him enjoying his youth, and she'd done so damn much for a random kid who wasn't even hers that she deserved for him to shoulder a few burdens for her.

“But I like helping.” Ranma insisted, though that earned her yet another disappointed shake of her faux mom’s head.

“And that's very sweet of you, but I don't like feeling like I've made you do all this work!” Mrs. Hibiki said, her voice picking up excitement as an idea obviously flashed in her mind. “I think you've done enough today. I'll take care of the rest of this, okay? I'd really appreciate it if you took a break. Why don't you go have fun in town? There's plenty to do, and you're such a sweetheart I know you'll make plenty of friends!”

The notion of being suddenly kicked out surprised Ranma, especially since he wasn't sure what Mrs. Hibiki got out of it, or how she was going to handle being stuck here all alone if she ended up needing to run to the convenience store again. He wanted to protest, but she'd already grabbed him by the shoulders and started pushing him towards the gap in the wall surrounding the house.

“O- okay, if you're sure.” Ranma could barely blink before he was deposited outside the confines of the Hibiki property. “You aren't goin’ ta need me around, are you mom? I can still help out, or-”

“Kiddo, that's the opposite of what I want. You'll have to do a lot of housework once you're out on your own! Don't ruin your childhood trying to do it now.” Mrs. Hibiki's warm smile unfortunately left Ranma little room to complain, even if he was pretty sure most of the rest of his life was going to be spent wild and free under the stars. “Try to be back around dinner time, if you don't get lost! And take this.”

Mrs. Hibiki dug around in her pocket, eventually producing a small and cute pink wallet. Without even looking inside, she popped it open, pulled out a thousand yen bill, and thrust it into Ranma's hand. “Here's your allowance. Don't spend it all at once, okay?”

Ranma nodded, even though he wasn't sure what he was actually going to do around town. He supposed he hadn't been gone that long though, most of his old haunts were probably still around, the market was probably still going to be fun to trawl, and if all else failed he could get a real workout in going rooftop hopping.

“Alright mom, thanks. I'll see you soon, okay!” Ranma started walking off before he could make Mrs. Hibiki actually mad at him with his reluctance. Part of him dreaded going out and about when he was supposed to be laying low, but the rest of him was honestly glad to have permission to stretch his legs.

And besides, why was he afraid anyway? He was a girl right now, wearing a pretty red blouse, and he honestly couldn't imagine anyone actually thinking he was Ranma Saotome based off a simple description given by his old man. Guys didn't turn into much shorter girls without magic, and the average person wasn't going to jump to that conclusion unprompted.

As long as he kept his wits about him and made sure he didn't run into pops, going out as Yoiko was perfectly safe, and might even have helped him figure out what exactly his old man was up to.

Ranma's walk turned into a run as he decided to get his little adventure started in earnest. He rounded the corner at speed, squeezed past a stocky guy wearing a way too tacky orange suit with matching headband and the frustrated guy in street clothes trying to give him directions, jumped over a low building, and set a course for the market so he could spend the frankly extravagant thousand yen bill in his hand—pops had never bothered to give him more than handfuls of spare change before.

Something nagged at Ranma, however, and as he took one last glance at the money he was clutching, a pair of issues suddenly jumped out at him. He realized that this couldn't be a real thousand yen bill, the man on the front looked wrong, and it had one more zero in the corner than it should have had. His mind immediately jumped to the assumption that Mrs. Hibiki had accidentally been given a forgery and passed it onto him. But that wasn't it; the truth was so much stranger.

Mrs. Hibiki had casually given her daughter ten thousand yen without even blinking, as allowance.

Adjusting the strap on his new handbag, Ranma perused the rack of cute glasses standing proud in the shopping arcade. Shades would definitely have improved his ability to disguise himself in an emergency, but he wasn't sure the loss of visual clarity was worth it—even with summer fast approaching—but even a simple pair of normal glasses would hide who he was a little. He slowly picked he way through the display for something that called out to him, eventually settling on a sleek set of square glasses with a refined wood colored rim that would have added an air of sophistication and maturity to any disguise that he-

The man running the stall very gently took the pair out of Ranma's hands, shaking his head no. Before Ranma could complain, the man let out a long and quizzical humming noise, eventually handing Ranma a set of large round glasses.

“I think you'll get the most out of these, little Hibiki, call it a hunch.” He smiled as Ranma analyzed the dorky looking things. Sure Ranma could probably have pushed harder to get the other pair back, but the guy selling glasses had a point even if he didn't know it. Sophistication and maturity were things Ranma's vanity cared about, but they weren't going to help him. The kinda cute round glasses on the other hand were going to make him look even more adorably innocent and naive, and that was going to dramatically improve how many suckers and marks wandered the street for him to take advantage of.

“Thanks mister! I really appreciate it!” Ranma said in the singsong girly voice he'd been practicing. He put the case the glasses went with in his bag, slipped them on, and shot the guy a really big smile just to put the cherry on top of their interaction.

“No, thank you little Hibiki, it's not everyday someone actually returns a lost wallet.” He shot her a smile back, holding the expression as she waved and wandered off to explore the rest of the shopping arcade… the sucker.

Ranma may not have been entirely sure how everyone already knew his disguise’s familial affiliation, but whatever was loudly telegraphing it to most of the locals was also earning him a lot of trust, and that had opened up so many opportunities to hustle the markets today! He had started off easy by just helping unload a truck for a second hand clothing store, which left him burdened with a nice shirt his guy side could wear, but he managed to follow that up by delivering a couple of packages to win himself a nice bag to keep the shirt neatly folded up inside of, and from there he'd simply helped watch over a curio shop while the owner had to attend to some serious business somewhere else. That got him a couple of knickknacks and hair accessories he was going to need to try out later, but the lady who ran the place even got the skewer stand next door to feed him a little chicken too. He hadn't expected to find a wallet resting just under the chair he was enjoying that meal at, but it was child's play to walk that back over to the glasses vendor for a reward too.

All in all, today had been a pretty fruitful trip down to the markets, made all the better by just how useful this new girl curse he had actually was. He still needed to get it cured eventually, but while he had it… he might as well use it. That's what pops would have told him, when pops wasn't being disappointed in him for being girly, anyway. 

But that didn't matter. Anything-Goes had taught him to be resourceful, to use everything at his disposal to its fullest! That was why he could tolerate everyone treating him as cute and pretty little Yoiko, and that was why he would end up scoring a massive haul of goodies by the time the day was out.

He just needed to figure out how to use his ten thousand yen to their fullest. He had so little idea of how to spend that much money, he hadn't even tried yet.

It was only a matter of time though, he had a whole market full of opportunities, perhaps he could find a nice restaurant and eat one of everything on the menu, or a nice sporting goods place to replenish his lost supplies, or at least get himself some decent exercise equipment while he was stuck loitering around-

A gentle bump to the shoulder distracted Ranma from his chosen task of scanning the store fronts, but before he could shrug and move on from the minor incident, he felt someone else grab him by the wrist and try to spin him around. 

“Hey! You gotta watch where you're going!” Shouted a boy who couldn't be much older than Ranma, who was presently getting dragged behind a martial artist he had no real hope of stopping. Normally Ranma would have just made the guy let go and move on with his life… but he was representing a different, more upstanding family than usual, and he probably needed to at least apologize.

“Sorry! I guess I was a little distracted.” Ranma said, closing his eyes and spinning around on one foot to deliver a cutesy peace sign as a show of good faith. “I didn't hurt you, did I? I feel terrible.”

Ranma forced a smile as he opened his eyes to see a group of four guys in blue gakurans, one of whom was clutching his side like he'd actually suffered some kind of real damage. It was possible these losers were delinquents or something, and about to run the ‘you’ve injured me, pay up’ scam his old man was fond of, but he was going to give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

“Oh of course she wears glasses.” Said one of the boys in the back, rolling his eyes as he took in Ranma's new accessory. “She's just a clumsy chick, Onishi, let it go.”

“That ain't an excuse! She actually hurt me!” The boy who must have been Onishi grabbed his side tighter, though his anger did slowly fizzle as he looked Ranma up and down. “Though you're right, maybe I could excuse a pretty girl for being a little uncoordinated. Sorry.”

“Clumsy?” Ranma asked, not quite managing to fully hide the anger dripping from his words. He was a practitioner of a venerable school of martial arts, coordination and speed were some of his greatest assets, he was not clumsy. Despite his efforts to stay cordial, he wrenched his hand from the closest boy’s grasp and shoved him back in a single motion. “You've got some kinda nerve blamin’ me for your own inability to see where you're going.”

“No need to get feisty, why can't we make up?” Asked the boy Ranma had shoved, slowly looking Ranma over in a way that made Ranma's skin crawl, even if he didn't know why. “I'll tell you what, it was Onishi’s fault, okay? Why don't you lemme make it up to ya?”

“Hey, I'm the one she bumped into, you don't get to blame me!”

“Do you realize how lame you sound complaining about getting hit by a girl that puny? Let it go, man.”

Ranma narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles as the boys squabbled in front of him. He didn't want this to get messy, but if he heard one more insult about him being small, weak, clumsy, or whatever else, he was going to actually show one of these punks that they were dealing with a martial artist.

“What the hell's the matter with you guys? Yer all acting like animals that ain't ever seen a damn girl before!” Finally spoke the taller boy in the back, whose long hair was pulled back into an impressive ponytail. He pushed his way to the front, casually shoving aside all of his companions so he could shoot Ranma a smile from up close. “Sorry about my friends, I guess goin’ to a boy's school can mess with some people's heads. Yer not hurt or anything are you?”

“Please, me, hurt by a guy like that?” Ranma let out a haughty laugh into the back of his hand, some small part of him still very eager to goad one of those fools into starting a fight. “You’ll need to hit the gym before you can even hope to hurt a puny girl like me.”

Ranma leaned to the side to stare at the other boys, but they did little more than simmer as their apparent leader simply chuckled along with Ranma's argument.

“You heard the girl. She's fine, y’all’re fine, why don't we consider the matter closed?” The boy went so far as to turn his back to Ranma, waving a hand at his pals before he continued. “You know what, you guys should head home without me. I'll catch y’all tomorrow.”

“Finally moved on from Tsubasa, huh? You know he's gonna be devastated to hear it.” Said one of the guys as the three started walking off, which summoned a chorus of laughter that Ranma unfortunately still had to hear even as the trio rounded a corner and vanished out of sight.

“I hate those guys sometimes…” The remaining guy rubbed the back of his neck and sighed before turning towards Ranma once again. “I really am sorry they're like that. I'd say they were raised in barns but frankly that's an insult ta cattle.”

“Yeah, I get it. Boys’ schools can breed real pieces of work.” Ranma agreed with a nod, prompting a look of confusion from the guy. “Well, don't worry about it. It’s all water under the bridge I guess. Take care!”

“H- hey, wait!” The guy called out, though he didn't actually reach out to stop Ranma physically. While it would have been easy to just walk away from the situation, Ranma found himself giving the guy a chance to say anything reasonable instead. He at least seemed pretty normal, and like the kinda guy Ranma might have actually tried to be friends with if they went to school together. Ranma had collected his own share of awkward or weird hangers-on too, so he couldn't really hold those losers against the guy either. “Look I know what this is gonna sound like, but I do feel bad that we probably ruined your day. Could I at least get you some ice cream or something to apologize?”

The mere mention of ice cream perked Ranma's ears up, and he nodded in agreement before he could stop himself. It had been almost two years since he and Ryoga had last gone out for ice cream, and unless it had shut down since the last time he was here, he did remember a pretty amazing gelato place nearby. 

“Sure, I could go for some gelato I guess, if that's okay.” Ranma grinned up at his new mark—or friend, depending on how the rest of the day went—already trying to decide exactly what flavor sounded best.

“Hey, whatever you want. My treat.” Whether the schmuck knew his role in this or not, he simply smiled warmly back as they walked side by side through the crowds towards their destination. “Oh shoot, here I am taking you out somewhere and I didn't even give you my name. I'm Kuonji.”

Something about that name tickled the back of Ranma's skull, though he couldn't quite place it. Either way, he supposed he needed to respond in kind, trading an obvious family name for his own, at least so they could start being friends.

“It's nice ta meet you, Kuonji. You can go ahead and call me Hibiki, everyone else does.” Ranma laughed to himself as they walked, still impressed with how flawlessly he could convince everyone around him that he really was just a sweet girl from a nice family. While it would have been easy to patiently and silently wait to collect his reward from Kuonji before running off, he supposed his fake mom had asked him to at least put in a token effort to get to know some people, so he could start by making small talk. He was pretty sure from the accent that this guy was from Osaka, and that was as good a place as any to start a conversation. “So, you been in Tokyo long?”

“Just a couple years, I ended up here while I was looking for… a fresh start, and I guess it kinda grew on me.” Kuonji said with a shrug, wincing at whatever memory actually prompted that desire, though Ranma wasn't going to ask. “I'd like to get back home and see my folks eventually, but at least coming out here has been good for my training.”

“Training?” Ranma asked, properly giving Kuonji a once over. His look didn't exactly scream martial artist, but that might have just been his gakuran’s fault more than anything else. “What kinda training? No offense, but you don't exactly look like the kinda guy who does much fightin’.”

“It's not just about fighting, Hibiki, I'm training in a way of living! I wander the country, perhaps one day the world searching for rare and lost techniques to incorporate into my art, all in pursuit of being the very best!” Kuonji paused to pose and shout his personal truth in front of a convenient mural of the planet, and Ranma had to respect his passion if nothing else. 

“You’d hafta be better than me if you wanna be the best, and that ain't happening.” Ranma laughed, though he had to admit he appreciated the drive of his new friend. Ranma had a similar goal, and that meant the two of them could be rivals if this guy was any good. 

“You ain't asking for a fight, are you?” Kuonji raised his eyebrow as he looked down at Ranma, suddenly reminding him of a couple of the dynamics involved in their conversation. He wasn't the manly Ranma Saotome, unbeatable practitioner of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes, he was little Yoiko Hibiki, who maybe had middle school Kempo training at best, and was self taught otherwise. “I'd feel kinda bad hitting a pretty girl like you, even if she asked me to, no offense.”

“Hey, I study Kempo! I just got back from doin’ a ton of training in China, I ain't some pushover!” Ranma paused to reach up and jab his finger into Kuonji 's ribs, hoping the fire in his eyes spoke to the truth in his words. “Hope you ain't just scared of losing to a girl!”

Kuonji didn't reply immediately, his attention suddenly taken with something behind Ranma, much to his irritation. He gave the beanpole a couple of seconds before he moved to jab at the guy's chest again, but Kuonji accidentally dodged as he walked around Ranma towards a stall.

Ranma blinked in further frustration as the guy who's just been trading barbs with him talked with a man selling second-rate stuffed animals. He was considering either reminding Kuonji that they were in the middle of a conversation or just bailing on the guy when he finally spun back around carrying a big grey cartoon mouse wearing some kind of frilly apron.

“I didn't take ya for the dolly type.” Ranma laughed as Kuonji walked back towards him, his bravado completely unprepared for the stuffed animal to be held out as an offering.

“It's fer you, Hibiki. Thought you might want a cute little guy who could ride around in your bag or something.” Kuonji’s defense would have made a lot more sense if he wasn't blushing out of embarrassment over what he'd just done, but Ranma took it from him to help the guy save face regardless. It was kinda cute, for a girly toy, and Ranma supposed it made more sense for someone with a chick’s body to hold onto it in public if nothing else. He'd just make sure to give it back to his new pal before they split up.

“Oh, well thanks. You didn't have to do that, but it's awful sweet of you.” Ranma said, tucking the new passenger in her bag as the two started walking off. “Now I'll hafta find something to get you, too.”

“Don't even worry about it, that smile of yours is thanks enough.” Kuonji replied, suddenly forcing Ranma to check. She had been smiling like an idiot, it had to be some kind of reflex in response to someone being nice to her, and Ranma simply took a deep breath and made himself stop. He didn't mind lookin’ happy when getting something, and he supposed he was glad Kuonji liked seeing him do it, but grinning like a damn fool for no reason was just going to get him in trouble. “Sorry, I guess I interrupted yer story, how was training in China anyway?”

“It got kinda hectic towards the end,” Ranma sighed, not eager to actually relay how much of a mess Jusenkyo and the weeks following getting cursed had been. “But the start was fun. I learned from a buncha different kinds of people, really helped me take my art to the next level.”

“Heh, maybe I should take you up on that fight then, I bet you'd love to show off everything you picked up.” Kuonji followed his words up with a wink that made the response Ranma was preparing to give get caught in his chest. “It’ll have ta wait though, we’re here!”

Kuonji pulled open the door to the gelato place and waved Ranma inside, following right behind him. The place had been renovated a little since the last time he and Ryoga got into an insignificant little fight inside of it, but it otherwise looked exactly how he remembered. It still had chairs, tables, and ice cream at the very least.

“Welcome! Let me know how I can help you, and-” The boy behind the counter couldn't have been more than seventeen, and he broke into a smirk the moment he noticed Kuonji enter behind Ranma. “You know I didn’t actually think you'd manage to bring a girl home, cousin. I'm impressed.” 

“I’m just tryin’ ta be nice to a girl, Hiroto, it ain't anything weird.” Kuonji rolled his eyes as he started unbuttoning his jacket. “Now why don't you take a break and give us some space.”

“Cousin? Break?” Ranma asked, watching the guy behind the counter pass his apron off to Kuonji before heading into the back with nothing more than a wave.

“My auntie and uncle own the place, that's all. It's a family business, and I'm helping out while they're letting me crash here.” Kuonji took his place behind the counter and leaned forward with a grin on his face as he waited for that all to sink in. While that did mean the guy wasn't actually offering to pay for Ranma's food, it also meant he could probably get more for free if he played his cards right, so he was absolutely onboard with his new friend having an after school job like this. “So, what can I get’cha?”

That question hit Ranma like a ton of bricks as he scanned the available flavors. Sure his old standby of chocolate was still sitting there, but there were a ton of options—more than he remembered—and he hadn't had the opportunity away from his old man to actually indulge in sweets for a while. He rocked his head back and forth as he considered asking for a sample of everything, but Kuonji stopped him by throwing out a suggestion. “If you're not sure, why don't I get you some strawberry?”

“Why strawberry?” Ranma asked, watching in a mix of awe and confusion as Kuonji didn't reach for the ice cream scoop, instead sticking his hands in his pockets so he could pull out two small metal spatulas. Acting faster than Ranma was fairly certain a normal customer could see, he carved off slices of the pinkish red treat, expertly packing it deep into a tall cone despite how obviously unsuited for this task his chosen implement was.

“I dunno, I just got the feeling red was your favorite color.” Kuonji laughed at him, forcing Ranma's cheeks to burn under embarrassment he barely understood, all because he'd bothered to wear a nice red shirt today. “Besides, it's extra popular with pretty girls.”

Ranma's gut instinct was to reject that sentiment as he was handed the overfilled waffle cone, but the first bite he took silenced any doubts he might have had. Kuonji had made a good choice for him, even if the reasoning was flawed, and the tangy sweet taste was a welcome relief to Ranma's long neglected sweet tooth. 

“Well I guess it is good, and I am pretty, so you must know your stuff.” Ranma chuckled to try to feel more in control of the situation, but he was pretty sure his attempt at a joke had accidentally just been complimenting the guy. “You'll hopefully forgive me for askin’, but what's the deal with the spatulas? The scoop’s gotta be easier than the whole-”

Without skipping a beat, Ranma shoved the remainder of the cone he had in this mouth so he could grab a pair of plastic spoons out of a tray, whereupon he began swinging them around in a lightning fast rendition of Kuonji 's earlier performance. “-Thing?”

The boy shook his head in disapproval as he walked back to the front of the counter to repeat the motions where Ranma could more clearly see him. Ranma took the act as a challenge, and imitated the open air implement swinging.

“You're fast, I'll give you that, Hibiki, but this is about more than speed! If you actually tried serving ice cream without any control like that, you'd get it everywhere!” He chastised Ranma with a briefly stern glare before he shrugged. “Though I suppose that's pretty good for your first time.”

“My first time pretending I'm servin’ crepes in a gelato place?” Ranma shrugged, still not really sure why technique mattered at all. With the proper tools he could’ve served ice cream way quicker! “You never answered my question.”

“My father gave me these spatulas when I first started my training as a young boy, that's all.” Kuonji said, his voice suddenly solemn and wistful as he stared off towards the west. “Though I may be on a journey to master all the culinary arts, my heart and soul longs to make okonomiyaki… You know, if you're ever in the area again, you should swing by and let me fire up my portable griddle. I bet it'll be the best you've ever had.”

Kuonji flashed Ranma a smile, and the tingling in his skull came back. Something about this guy was way too familiar. He'd definitely heard the name Kuonji before, back when he and pops were kicking around Osaka. He'd made fast friends with a boy his age who was busy getting trained to be an… okonomiyaki chef.

“Ucchan?”

The words flowed out of his mouth before they fully registered in his head, and all he could do was watch Kuonji try to process it.

“Nobody's called me that in a while…” Kuonji replied, narrowing his eyes as he started running the math on who Ranma could possibly be as well. He didn't get much time to think, however, as Ranma practically leapt at him, pulling him into an extremely tight hug.

“Ucchan! It's been too long, buddy! I thought I'd never get to see you again!” Ranma pulled his grip tighter and tighter, long past the point where he could stop the slow trickle of tears falling out of his eyes. Ucchan was his first real friend, the first guy he ever had time to connect with, but the road left no room for permanent attachments, and he and pops had needed to move on after just two short years. 

“N- not that I'm complaining about all the attention, but yer gonna have to refresh my memory here…” Ucchan said, his arms gently wrapped around her back as he reciprocated despite his confusion. “Do I… know you?”

“Come on Ukyo, I know I’ve got trouble with faces sometimes, but you really don't recognize me? I’m Ranma Saotome!” Ranma grinned as he tried to pull away, but the moment he said his name Ucchan finally held him tightly as well. While he enjoyed the experience for a few moments, eventually he wriggled himself free just to stop this whole reunion from being suffocating.

“Ranchan? But yer a… how did you become a…” Ucchan's words hung in the air as he tried figure out how to ask his questions, his face still red from the joy of finally hugging it out with an old friend. 

An old friend who'd introduced himself as Hibiki. Ranma mentally slapped himself, realizing that he'd probably confused the guy pretty hard.

“Oh, the name thing is sort of a disguise, don't-”

“A girl. I feel kinda stupid Ranchan, but for some reason I guess I always thought you were a guy when we were kids.” Ucchan looked Ranma up and down with increasing speed, and before Ranma could overcome the embarrassment of being cursed, he continued. “But it's you, ain't it? I don't know how I didn't realize, yer face is still so stupidly cute, and you've even started wearing glasses like yer old man.”

“I'm not anything like pops!” Ranma corrected, the indignation freeing him from the mental turmoil of forgetting he wasn't just disguising his name, but his sex too! Taking a quick look around to make sure no one was around to hear, Ranma leaned in close to Ukyo, lowering his voice. “That's part of what I was tellin’ you. Me ‘n pops had a… falling out, and I'm pretending ta be the long-lost daughter of some nice folks right now.”

“A falling out? What did he do this time?” Ucchan rolled his eyes as he effortlessly accepted Ranma's disguise as fact.

“Ugh, where do I start?!” Ranma sighed and messaged his temple, trying to decide whether mentioning Jusenkyo or the engagement first would make more sense. Ultimately, one of the two directly led to him running away from home, and he probably had to lead with that one. “So I wasn't lying about going to China, right? We finally get back to Tokyo after like a month straight of non-stop traveling, and then he drops some crap on me about me being engaged, can you believe it? I dunno what domestic Tokyo chick he expected me to marry, but we got into a fight about it and I ditched him!”

It was hard not to shout, but Ranma was fighting to keep his voice to a harsh whisper. The mention of an engagement took Ukyo by surprise, and he narrowed his eyes in solidarity with Ranma's anger. “Look, I know he's my dad and all, and I'm sure I'll catch back up with him in a few years, but I'm done. He don't get to tell me where to go, he doesn't get to make any kind of decision for me, and I sure as hell ain't gonna accept no arranged marriage he set up behind my back either!”

“Y- yeah. That sounds like yer old man alright.” Ukyo’s eye twitched as he grasped the depths to which pops was willing to go to inherit some property or whatever, and Ranma did his best to vent all his built up frustration so he could get back to actually getting to hang out with his first friend. “He engaged you to another girl, huh? What kinda stunt does he think he's pulling doing that to his own daughter?”

“Son.” Ranma corrected, rubbing the back of his neck as Ukyo tilted his head, suddenly searching for any angle where Ranma might have looked like a boy. “Look, it's part of a long story. There's a bathroom in this place, right? Does it got hot water?”

“Uh, yeah, it's down that hall, but-” Ucchan tried to force out more words, but Ranma grabbed him by the hand and started hauling him off into the men's restrooms. “Ranchan! We can't both just-”

“I'm a guy, Ukyo, trust me!” Ranma sighed and prepared himself to reveal his secret to probably the only guy he could trust. He turned on the hot water, letting it build up to the right temperature as he pulled the back of his shirt up. “Hey, could you unhook my bra for me? I'm still getting used to the damn thing and I don't wanna break it or nothin'.”

The reflection of Ucchan in the mirror turned bright red as he slowly reached forward to grab the second most feminine article of clothing Ranma was wearing, his hands awkwardly fumbling with the closure for several seconds before he figured it out. “Now don't blink.”

Ranma threw a splash of hot water over his face, repeating the process a few more times until he felt the ground get unstable under him as he grew. The reflection of Ucchan was aghast as manliness returned to Ranma's body, and once the transformation was over, Ranma spun around and flashed his pal a real grin.

“You're a… how did you… why did you…”

“It's a long story, but the gist is: pops thought taking us to ‘the land of cursed springs’ was a good idea! Now I'm cursed ta turn into a chick anytime I get hit by cold water, and I only turn back if I can find hot enough water instead!” Ranma leaned back against the sink and waited for his buddy to take it all in.

“You realize how crazy that sounds, right?” Ukyo asked as if he had not seen the curse in action. “I- is it dangerous? Does it hurt? Are there any side effects?”

“Lemme tell you, suddenly havin’ all that fat on my chest was pretty damn disorienting, and you can't imagine how terrifying it is for all your equipment ta suddenly just be missing in action, especially since I thought I was gonna be stuck in a girl's body forever at first…” Ranma trailed off for effect, pensively furrowing his brow and clenching his fist to really emphasize just how strange it was popping his head up out of the cursed spring as a girl, and how hard it was to come to grips with feeling he was in someone else's body. 

“Trust me, I have an idea.” Ucchan said, pulling Ranma into a quick and gentle embrace. “I guess that's why it's a curse though…”.

“Eh, but it ain't all bad being cute as a button.” Ranma laughed despite Ukyo's concern, more to reassure himself than anything. “Turning into a chick was weird at first, but I kinda got used to it. I know I still need to get rid of it eventually, but I can live with it for now… and I kinda hafta, since until pops loses my trail I gotta keep pretending ta be a girl named Yoiko Hibiki.”

“Yer ridiculous Ranchan. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone, and you definitely shouldn’t force yourself to be a girl if you don’t like it.” Ucchan said with a sigh and a shake of his head. “I know you don’t wanna hear it, but this is exactly the sorta stupid plan your dad would come up with if he was in your shoes. If you drop the act and yer willing to work, I'm sure I can get my auntie to take you in and shelter you instead.”

Ukyo had a point—and it wasn't like splitting a bed roll with the guy and hanging out with him all the time would be new—but it didn't sit well with Ranma. Living as a guy would have made it a lot easier for his old man to find him and take him back, and that should have been the most important thing holding him back, but at this point it wasn't. Maybe if he'd stumbled onto his old buddy when he first got to Suginami it could have been different, but he couldn't help but feel like suddenly dropping this Yoiko thing would have hurt Mrs. Hibiki really badly. He couldn’t do that to her, not after she’d been so damn nice to him… 

At least not until he paid her back.

“I’ll think about it. I know we're pals, and it wouldn't be the first time I had to sleep next to ya, but…” Ranma sighed, biting back a jab he would have made about getting compared to his dad again, mostly because he didn’t need to hurt his pal just to feel slightly better about himself. “I promised mom I'd be back in time for dinner, I can't just bail on her now.”

“Still thinking with yer gut, huh? Typical. Ya do know I wouldn't mind feeding you instead, you know, since we’re…” Ucchan's face turned bright red as his thoughts probably turned to the past, back when they were best friends, doing everything together, and he or his dad was always making Ranma food after their little sparring sessions. “I just care about you, okay jackass? I'm willing to look after you if that's what you need.”

“Ucchan…” Ranma took a step forward, grabbing his friend’s hands with his own as he tried to figure out the best way to express himself. Ukyo was a sweet guy, and it was nice of him to offer, but Ranma had other stuff going on, and as much as spending his days by Ucchan's side would have been great, he had to keep his promises. “I can't, okay? Not right now, and not like this…”

“B- but…”

Ukyo's protest hung in the air as the two gazed into each other's eyes, each testing the resolve of their opponent in this test of will. However, Ranma would not and could not be turned away from his duties by his desire for friendship. Even if it was hard, Ranma knew he had to go home, let his fake mom feed him, tell her all about the day her daughter had, and…

“Hey, you know what, why don't you come home with me!” Ranma grinned, letting go of his buddy's hands so he could swing around to Ukyo's side and lean on his shoulder. “Mom told me ta make friends and all, I bet she won't mind if you had dinner with us! I kinda owe you after all the times your family fed me, don't I?”

“Uh- I- I guess auntie wouldn't mind if I missed dinner, but what makes you think this woman you're staying with is just gonna tolerate you bringing a guy home?”  Ukyo turned away from Ranma suddenly, inadvertently shoving Ranma off of him. Ranma shrugged and walked back over to the sink, mentally hyping himself up to change back into adorable little Yoiko.

“Because she used to feed me anytime I came over, back when I was just her son's friend.” Ranma turned to flash his friend a grin before he turned on the cold water and drenched himself. “And now you get to be her kid’s friend comin’ over for dinner instead.”

Ukyo stared intently at Ranma's change back into a girl, nodding slightly as if in agreement with his point, but he hadn't moved to say or do anything yet. While there was a quiet moment, Ranma pulled his shirt up yet again, and waved his hand. “Do a guy a favor and help me hook this thing again, couldja? Then I'll get my mom to feed ya, I promise.”

Ucchan gulped audibly as his trembling hands fumbled with Ranma's bra yet again, prompting Ranma to roll his eyes. Some guys were just always gonna be clueless.

While he hated how easy it was to get lost on a business trip and loathed how long they could keep him from his family even when things went perfectly, Taiga did always appreciate just how satisfying it was to finally come home from one. Just resting around the home alone was usually enough to brighten his day, and he didn't even mind when he inevitably had to do a few chores so the next person home would have an easier time when they got back…

But he wasn't alone.

He’d come home to find a neatly tidied up house that contained the most precious thing in the world: family. It had only been two months since he'd last seen his beautiful wife, but his heart ached like it had been forever, and even now, hours after his return, he was tempted to walk into the kitchen just to soak up every moment he had with her before one of them inevitably got lost once again. But she was making dinner—for three, since apparently the Saotome girl was staying over for a few days—and he knew he was exactly awkward enough in the kitchen to make things harder for her instead of easier. It wasn't like it was his fault someone kept switching around where all the ingredients and tools were kept, but as long as her system worked for her, he wasn't going to complain.

Taiga would instead patiently wait in the living room, flip through a new crime novel Sachiko had bought for him while he was out, and just try to let all his troubles float away. Well, at least as many as he could. His son was still missing—though it looked like his postcards were coming from closer and closer to home—and every extra day he spent waiting for his son to return hurt more and more. Thankfully he probably didn't have to wait much longer, if Ryoga really was hunting down Yoiko, then it was only a matter of time before he showed up at the door looking for the family's guest, everyone would have their tearful reunions, and they would all be happy.

At least, that was Taiga's hope. He had a few more days off before he had to trek back to work, so he had his fingers crossed Ryoga would come home before then, and if he didn't… Taiga was just going to have to try to come home as often as possible. His child was close, he could feel it. 

“I'm home!” The voice of a young girl pierced his inner thoughts, and his immediate reaction was to stand up and march towards the front door. The girl was probably lost and had come home to the wrong house—that kind of thing happened to him plenty of times—but before he had time to say anything, he locked eyes with the girl in question.

Sachiko was right. He had only seen Ranma once, and only in passing, but the girl standing in the entryway staring back at him was unequivocally that boy's sister. She had his face, his shining eyes, and looking at her left little doubt in his mind. She was Yoiko Saotome, and whoever helped her become a girl had done an incredible job.

The boy next to her wasn't anyone he was expecting, however, and Taiga really couldn't place his face. Whoever he was, he certainly hadn't been one of Ryoga or Yoiko’s old classmates, at least not one Taiga had met. 

“H- h- hey, Y- Yoiko, it’s been a while,” Taiga said, breaking the silence as he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't really know what the correct thing to do here was, he doubted she even remembered him, but he couldn't just be a distant stranger while she was staying in his house. “Y- you've grown since the last I saw you.”

That wasn't really true, if anything he could have sworn she was shorter and smaller than he remembered… but his memory could be fuzzy at the best of times, it was probably just playing tricks on him. He tried to smile warmly at his guest, before turning to-

“Papa, it's been so long, I missed you!” Yoiko rushed him, wrapping her arms around him tight while her declaration stunned him into silence and locked up his body. His mind scrambled to figure out what possible reason a girl like this could have for calling him papa, especially in front of a stranger, or- “I'm so glad you're back! Did you have fun on your trip? You didn't get hurt did you? Did you go anywhere interesting?”

The flurry of questions further stopped Taiga from being able to focus, even as Yoiko finally let go of him and resorted to simply staring up at him with sparkling eyes. Should he simply ignore the papa thing? Say he'd been to Yokohama on business, that it was a fine trip but he was glad to be home, or did he need to demand answers before-

“Who’s your friend, kiddo?” Sachiko asked as she rounded the corner, walked up to Yoiko, and ruffled the girl's hair. The fact that his wife was out of her apron meant that dinner was probably ready—good timing on her part—and he was glad, since that meant she could handle this complicated situation in his stead. “I should have told you to call home if you were bringing guests, sweetheart, but you're in luck, I think I ended up making too much anyway.”

“Oh, sorry mom… I don't actually remember the number for home,” Yoiko said, awkwardly laughing out of embarrassment.

Mom. She'd just called Sachiko mom. Taiga slowly turned his head to try to meet his wife's gaze, looking for any kind of explanation she might have had for this situation, but she was too focused on their guest's friend to notice. “But this is Ucchan, he's an… old friend of mine, actually.”

“N- nice ta meet’cha Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki. I'm Ukyo Kuonji, and I'm sorry for showing up unannounced. I can leave if I'm a bother.” The boy bowed respectfully as he spoke, but the fact that he was nervous being here was setting off further alarm bells in Taiga's mind. 

“Oh no, you're perfectly welcome in our home. Any friend of my daughter is a friend of mine.” Sachiko declared with a smile, but her words simply made Taiga narrow his eyes as he continued trying to get her attention. 

Daughter?  

Taiga had to hold back an exhausted sigh. This was one of Sachiko’s little schemes again, he could tell. 

“Y- y- yeah, the more the merrier, I always say,” Taiga added, hoping to turn his wife’s attention towards him long enough to make sure she knew he had concerns about whatever she was pulling. He was supposed to pretend he had a daughter?! No wonder the guest room had been relabeled with the girl's name. “Y- you said you were old friends, right? How did you two meet?” 

Taiga shot a dagger filled glare towards Sachiko as he used his size to herd the two kids towards the dining room table ahead of him. 

“Years ago, when I was… lost in Osaka, Ucchan and his old man were nice enough to feed me for a while.” Yoiko said, and Taiga had to suppress the twitch in his eye that came with knowing his family was now the one feeding her for a while. “He was such a good pal, it hurt an awful lot when I finally got separated from them too… so I'm so glad I managed ta catch up with him here!”

Yoiko punctuated her story by grabbing Ukyo’s arm and squeezing it tight, which predictably made the boy blush. Unfortunately, Taiga had no way of knowing what—if any—part of his supposed daughter's story was true, if this boy knew her before and really was being nice to her now, had been coached into going along with her made up backstory because he liked her, or if she was springing all of this on him out of nowhere. Taiga just knew that the best thing he could do right now was pay attention, play along, and run damage control if anything bad happened, just like when Sachiko got up to shenanigans herself.

“How sweet, and now we can repay the favor!” Sachiko said, running out plates of shogayaki and bowls of shira-ae as everyone else got seated at the table. “Getting lost might not always be fun, but I believe it's always good when you get to meet new people and forge lifelong relationships you never would have made otherwise.”

“So, do you go to school around here, Ukyo?” Taiga asked, trying to narrow down some facts about the one person in the room he knew nothing about. The boy was still wearing his school uniform, so it was an easy question to ask, but depending on how Ukyo responded he might have been able to make some more assumptions. 

“Yeah. There's a boys’ high school near my auntie’s restaurant, and she's been awful nice letting me actually go to school when I ain't working.” Ukyo said, briefly pausing to take a couple more bites of his food. The boy was staying with family! He had a job, even! That was a solid plus in Taiga's book, a reassurance that this kid was at least dependable and reliable in some capacity, assuming it was true.

“Working and going to school, at your age? That takes dedication.” Taiga said, not actually sure how old Ukyo was. Fifteen to sixteen would have put him in the same school grade as Yoiko and Ryoga, and if they were old classmates it explained how Yoiko could have roped him into this lie. “I hope they don't just have you washing dishes.”

“Oh no, Mr. Hibiki, I help out with a little of everything. We make all our gelato in-house, none of it is bought from a supplier, that's the Kinjo commitment to excellence at work!” Ukyo said, briefly striking a pose in front of the framed picture of the Eiffel Tower behind him, and Taiga simply chuckled at the zeal. “I enjoy it, even if it ain't the kinda work I see myself doing once I get my own place.” 

“Your own place? Do you mean moving out on your own, or starting your own business?” Taiga asked, tilting his head at how enterprising this young man actually was. Most boys his age definitely weren’t thinking about their future quite so much, and even if it was just about where he wanted to live, it was impressive. 

“Well, ever since my…” Ukyo paused, furrowing his brow at Yoiko for a moment before continuing, though she mostly seemed just as confused by the gesture as Taiga was. “The okonomiyaki cart I was supposed to inherit was stolen, it’s been my dream to rebuild from the ashes. I want to open my own okonomiyaki restaurant, and prove to the world that my training has not been in vain! The Kuonji family legacy will live on!”

“Wait, someone stole your cart?! Ucchan, we gotta get it back!” Yoiko shouted, her mouth still half full of food as she grabbed onto her friend’s arm yet again, jostling him slightly. “You’re strong, I’m strong, between the two of us there ain’t nobody who can stop us!”

“It’s… gone now, Yoichan, but I appreciate the offer all the same.” Ukyo sighed, going back to eating his mashed tofu salad, and Taiga couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trying not to say something. “It’s fine, as soon as I can get my parents ta agree to loaning me the money, everything’ll work out. I’ll even be able ta put some money aside and get a new cart in case I need to head down to festivals or the beach, anything to bring quality Okonomiyaki to the people of Tokyo!”

“Finally.” Sachiko said, nodding in appreciation of the dream just like Taiga was. “It can be so hard to find authentic food around here. I can't wait ta go to yer grand opening!”

Taiga had to admit, he liked the kid. The boy even had a plan! Ukyo was lining up an initial source of capital that was likely to have low or nonexistent interest, whose lender might understand if he was ever behind on his payments, and that was going to help him deal with the difficulty of actually making sure he consistently turned a profit running something as volatile as a restaurant. 

“Remind me to give you my business card, young man. I might be able to help you get a good deal when you get around to finding a place.” Taiga said, having unfortunately left his wallet in his orange jacket, which was hanging by the door.

“Taiga, honey, yer talkin’ business at the table.” Sachiko turned to chastise him with a smile on her face, completely unaware of how her actions could possibly make him flush. 

“S- S- Sachiko… I’m j- just trying to be nice to our d- daughter’s… friend.” Taiga hated how easily she could push his buttons and make him stumble over his words, but then again it had to be part of why he married her. He just needed to get back at her a little. “You should know your Osaka-ben is showing, dear.”

“And it ain’t even a party.” Sachiko replied, sticking her tongue out at him, just to embarrass him further, when she resumed speaking she’d gone back to the Kanto dialect she’d assimilated since moving out here with him, just to give him a break. It was a shame, in his opinion she sounded a lot cuter the other way, but he knew she preferred to hide it just so people would give her useful directions when she got lost instead of accidentally sending her down to Kansai.  “It’s not my fault Yoiko brought home someone nice, is it? What can I say, it’s infectious.”

Sachiko sighed, waving her hand a little for emphasis before she turned to face Yoiko directly, grinning down at the girl she’d taken into their house. “I can see you had fun out and about today, huh kiddo? Mr. Sawa over at the market didn’t sell those glasses to you, did he?” 

Yoiko rocked her head back and forth for a moment as she considered how exactly to respond to the implication, which only told Taiga she was right. Mr. Sawa was the martial arts optometrist who lived in town, and if Taiga remembered correctly everyone said he could get a solid read on someone’s prescription just by getting a good look at them. Taiga wasn’t sure he believed that, but then he’d never needed any himself, so he couldn’t really tell.

“No, he didn’t sell them to me…” Yoiko confessed, and Taiga fought the urge to glare. Ryoga had frequently called Yoiko a thief, back when they were rivals. He’d softened his complaints once they were friends, but Taiga wasn’t going to assume she’d simply suddenly gotten better, just that she’d stopped doing it to Ryoga. He was going to need to keep an eye on her, make absolutely sure she didn’t leave the house loaded down with all of their very nice things, as some sort of trick she’d goaded Sachiko into. It would have been just like- “I found his wallet lying around, and he gave them to me as a gift after I returned it to him!”

Yoiko flashed a peace sign next to what she must have assumed was simply an accessory before she took them off and put them away in the bag she was still carrying. That… also kind of sounded like how Ryoga used to describe her, the side of her that would drag him home every night, or help out people who were in trouble. “Oh, that reminds me, I think you might have given me too much allowance by mistake.”

Yoiko pulled out a ten thousand yen bill, sliding it across the table towards Sachiko, who simply shook her head no. 

“No, that’s yours Yoiko! You never know when you’ll get lost, or end up away from home, and it’s always good to have a little bit of money in your pocket for emergencies. It’s really not that much money.” Sachiko said, a free hand of hers patting Taiga’s thigh under the table, likely in hope that he wouldn’t say anything to contradict her. 

It was more than most parents probably entrusted to their kids, but it was admittedly less than he had usually tried to make sure Ryoga had, whenever he was actually home to collect it. Taiga would accept that Sachiko was being overly nice to the stray girl, and had given her a little bit of money just to enjoy being a kid… Sachiko was too nice for her own good though, and she was only opening a potential can of worms by sliding the money back towards Yoiko. 

“If you insist mom, I really don’t know what to do with this much money though…” Yoiko turned and put her money away, completely missing the look her friend was giving her as she shoved it back down past the stuffed animal she had also mysteriously picked up without paying for it. 

“Ideally you spend it, kiddo. I was hoping you’d have some change by now, but I guess I’ll have to give you some of that before you head off to high school tomorrow, too.” Sachiko spoke far too innocently for the shock that fell across both Taiga and Yoiko both. They didn’t have the power to enroll Yoiko in school, any paperwork she had would still have been in her father’s hands, she would have needed to take an exam—and that was assuming she’d actually graduated middle school at all—there was money involved, and-

“School?!” Yoiko shouted, despite her previously friendly demeanor, clearly just as unprepared for this sudden decision Sachiko had somehow made as Taiga was. “I- I didn’t know I had school…”

“I’m sorry to drop it on you so suddenly, but I found the perfect place, Furinkan High! The dress code is lax, they don’t mind transfers, they were perfectly willing to skip the entrance exams…” Sachiko clasped her hands together as if anything she’d said was reassuring, and not just a reminder that the only places willing to take a girl in on short notice were sketchy. “And I even got you and your brother set up in the same class! That way you two can go to school together, once he gets back.”

Taiga narrowed his eyes at the implication that his son would actually be making it to school, too. Yoiko walking Ryoga to and from school again would have been nice, once he got back, and it might have actually ensured he got a high school education… it just meant ignoring that he too had missed out on finishing middle school, and that he and Yoiko were going to have something of a falling out as soon as he got home. Was that Sachiko’s angle? Was she trading Yoiko a place to stay in exchange for helping Ryoga figure out his life? It was more mercenary than he expected from his wife, but it might even have actually worked… 

If he wasn’t incredibly worried about how she’d enrolled Yoiko in school in the first place. 

“O- oh. Yeah. That’ll be great.” Yoiko leaned back in her chair and sighed, going back to poking at the last of her pork. Yoiko not wanting to go along with this was part of what worried Taiga so much. Maybe Yoiko could have gotten a lot of the things Sachiko needed, if she was willing, but without her approval… 

Sachiko didn’t do something stupid... Wouldn’t have put her family in danger…

“Well, thanks fer the food Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki, but I probably need to be heading home.” Ukyo interrupted the tension as best he could, gently gesturing at his cleaned plates before he started standing up. “It was really nice meeting the both of y’all, and I gotta say, yer a really good cook, ma’am.” 

“You’re welcome, dear! Feel free to visit anytime!” Sachiko said as he started walking out of the room with Yoiko walking after him, but Taiga couldn’t let them go. Not yet. He had two very important things to do, and he was going to follow the boy to the door. 

“Here, I promised you my card.” Taiga pulled one of his simpler cards out of his suit’s pocket while the boy was busy getting his shoes on, and proudly offered it to the young entrepreneur-to-be. It was a difficult business, following one’s dream, but he still liked knowing that the boy was trying it. It meant his future had some stability in it, hope, and passion, and that was going to be good for Ukyo and Yoiko both.

“Oh. T- thanks sir, I promise I’ll give you a call as soon as the money comes in.” The boy bowed again, which gave Taiga the perfect opportunity to grab Ukyo firmly by the shoulders, narrow his eyes, and do something he’d never actually thought he would have to do.

“Now son, I am going to give you permission to date my daughter. I can tell you’ll be good to her, you’ll go far together,” Taiga started, testing the resolve of the increasingly nervous and blushing boy held firmly in his grip. Yoiko tugged on his arm—gently, considering he was pretty sure she could actually hurt him if she wanted—but he didn’t change course. Whatever was going on between Sachiko, Yoiko, and himself, he didn’t know, but he cared enough about the girl to protect her from at least one thing. “But you will not hurt her, am I understood? If you make her cry, do anything to her, just because you think she’s not up to some standard of yours, so help me-”

“Daaaaad! Stop!” Yoiko did finally pull his arm off of the boy, but that only freed Ukyo to stand up and grab Taiga’s arms in return, his eyes shining with satisfactory amounts of passion over the situation.

“Of course! I promise I’ll look after her, father! I’ll love ‘n protect her to the bitter end, no matter what happens!” Ukyo’s grip grew in time with his blush, and Taiga nodded in acceptance. That was what he’d wanted, Ukyo had passed his test with flying colors. Whatever Yoiko was to Taiga, at least now she had a fall back if he needed to kick her out, and if she needed to run yet again, she had someone sworn to be her savior. 

“Alright son. Good luck out there, and I hope for your sake you meant it.”

Ranma’s cheeks burned as he walked back to the living room, his heart still pounding in frustration at the implication that he or Ucchan were some kind of thing! He had no idea what possessed the Hibiki men to be so damn prone to jumping to conclusions, but he hadn’t expected to somehow accidentally convince the guy that not only was Ranma his daughter, but that Ranma and Ukyo were in some kind of real relationship! He wished he’d had time to actually speak to Ucchan before the guy ran off, anything to clarify what the hell he thought agreeing to it like that would actually accomplish!  

Then again, he’d told Ukyo to follow his lead, and to just wing it, doing whatever came naturally. It was a pretty good plot, it meant the family wouldn’t say anything if he kept hanging out with the boy, he could invite Ukyo over basically whenever he wanted, and that was going to go a long way to helping Ranma get out from under the burden of pretending to be Yoiko all the time. Besides, he was kinda cute, and Ranma didn’t really-

Ranma made sure no one was around before slapping himself for yet another one of those traitorous thoughts. Ucchan wasn’t attractive, he was a guy, and Ranma didn’t like guys! So what if he was tall, and he could hold her all nice, and he’d been so damn sweet to her, and honestly the way he flirted with her when he thought they were strangers was-

Was part of the problem! Now he knew Ranma was a boy, they were both one hundred percent men, nothing could or would exist between them, and Ranma’s increasingly burning face was just the side effect of the natural state of things between handsome boys and pretty girls. It wasn’t Ucchan’s fault that Ranma was a total babe, just like it really wasn’t Ranma’s fault that-

Well yes, yes it was Ranma’s fault! He was a boy, he couldn’t let himself have thoughts like this. He liked girls, he’d been embarrassed by pretty ones plenty of times in the past, so it wasn’t like he was just gay or anything—no matter how many people wanted to sling that accusation at him—so this was something else. 

He was a girl.

That was the issue. Ranma was a girl, and girls liked boys, and just like pops’ curse taught him how to eat bamboo or whatever, Ranma’s curse had clearly been guiding him down the damn path of wearing girly clothes, eating girly sweets just because a pretty boy offered them to him, and thinking about how dreamy that guy could be. The curse was messing with his head, but that meant he could fight back! 

“I’m going to take a bath!” Ranma shouted to his fake parents, warning them of his intended absence before racing off to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind him he threw himself out of his clothes at speed, slipped out of every single terrible article of damning woman’s clothes he’d been enrobed in, swiftly showered—thoroughly, like a good house guest, even if he was on a mission—and threw himself into the already filled bath. 

The still warm water surrounded him in its embrace, slowly took away his vile femininity and replaced it with the real Ranma Saotome, the true man who had no terrible weaknesses. He was free to lean back and lounge, momentarily no longer a short and puny little nothing girl. 

He was tall, fit, rugged, at least half as handsome as Ucchan, and that meant everything was okay. He liked girls, even if the prettiest girl he’d met lately was that amazon who was still trying to kill him, he could definitely hold the image of her in his mind and reassure himself that he definitely could have put the moves on her if he wanted, flirted with her like Ukyo flirted with him, and reduced her to mush just like he longed to melt back down his old friend’s arm, looking up at-

Ranma took a long, deep breath, bringing himself to the center. Curses came with downsides, the roots of this infection would likely be deep for a while, but he could fight it if he focused. He needed to not think of boys or girls at the moment, just clear his head and move on. He had more important problems to worry about right now anyway. Whatever terrible issues were going on in his brain could wait, he needed to figure out how he was going to deal with going to school tomorrow. He hadn’t asked for that! He didn’t even want a high school education! He wasn’t ever going to bother holding down any kinda complicated job. Like his old man before him he was going to spend most of his time wandering around and training, and only rarely would he consider stopping long enough to get some kind of temporary job like bouncing, cleaning, food service, or the like to get the money he needed to get back on the road.

But… Mrs. Hibiki would know if he didn’t go, she’d probably spent money getting him ready to go, and he would have been throwing that away. 

That didn’t mean he wanted to go, though. Just that it was something he owed her. Besides, if it was anything like his last couple of boys’ schools, he’d probably end up getting into a fight with the strongest person there on his first day, and get kicked out for at least a week or two. He was going to be fine.

“Sachiko, dear, can we talk? ” Taiga narrowed his eyes as he helped her wash the dishes, not content to let her get away with whatever the heck she was pulling here without actually telling him what was going on. “What is going on with Yoiko? Why are we pretending to be her parents?”

“Keep your voice down, honey.” Sachiko said, not even looking up from scrubbing a place, despite how much he wanted her to actually look him in the eyes. “I don’t want to scare her, or she’ll just run off.”

“You’re worried about her?!” Taiga hissed despite himself, trying to figure out how any of this made sense. How could they possibly scare her?

“Taiga… please don’t freak out, I know what this sounds like… but when I found her, she started pretending to be our missing daughter. Can’t you see the family resemblance?” Sachiko laughed despite the gravity of the situation, gesturing at her face like it would calm him down. “She… just needs some space, okay? Her dad’s looking for her, and I know he doesn’t respect her, he’s trying to get her engaged to some girl in Nerima so he can inherit some land, and- my point is: she needs us, dear, she just doesn’t know how to ask for help.”

“And… you’ve been indulging this behavior? She’s calling me papa, Sachi!” Taiga sighed, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. He didn’t want to snap at his wife. Yes, she was doing something really stupid, and yes, everything would have been a lot better if she and Yoiko had just been being honest with each other… but he needed to be civil about it. Sachiko was doing this because she was a kind woman, whose heart was way too open to strangers… and that was the reason they knew each other in the first place. “So how long are you going to keep this up?”

“As long as it takes.” Sachiko said, hopefully well aware of how little that qualified as an answer. He wasn’t an actor, he was going to slip up eventually, and if that was the kind of thing that was going to scare her away he had his doubts continuing to play pretend was smart. The best thing they could do for her was going to be to talk to her, open and honestly, and get her back with the good side of her family. “She’ll open up eventually, I know she will. I hope it won’t take years, but…”

She started laughing again, and Taiga had to bite back another surprised response. She didn’t mean it. There was no way they were going to harbor this girl for years. He didn’t expect her to still be here by the end of the month. 

“What are you going to do when Ryoga gets here? He knows her better than we do, he’s not going to fall for this.” Taiga said, putting a stack of plates away in what was probably the right cupboard. “You planned for that, right?”

“Well, I was hoping we’d sit him down, explain that Yoiko’s going through a lot right now, and that she needs our support… We raised him right, didn’t we? He’ll do the right thing.” Sachiko turned to grin at him, but Taiga just shook his head. She might have been willing to keep hoping their rivalry would fall by the wayside, but Taiga wasn’t so sure Ryoga could put their differences aside. Even if he did hope he’d successfully taught Ryoga not to hit girls.

“And how, exactly, did you get Yoiko into school?” Taiga scowled, especially as his wife turned away from him again, clearly hiding something. They were already breaking laws, and she’d definitely broken some she wasn’t telling him about. “Sachi, you realize what we’re doing here is dangerous, right? We could all get in trouble, especially if you did anything reckless.”

“I know, I know, but that’s why we won’t get caught!” Sachiko winked at him, and he involuntarily shuddered. He’d heard that one too many times in the past for it to be reassuring. “We’re protecting an innocent girl and giving her a real shot at life, isn’t that worth the risk?”

“Is it worth putting our son’s life at risk?!” Taiga couldn’t stop that accusation from spilling out of him, and the fact that Sachiko shrank slightly when he said it meant that she hadn’t even thought about it! “All it would take is her saying the wrong thing to someone to get you in trouble, get me in trouble, and leave poor Ryoga without a home to come back to. Is that what you want?”

Sachiko calmly turned off the water, set aside the last of the clean dishes, and turned to stare back at him for the first time since this conversation had started. There was an anger simmering behind her eyes, and he wanted to think that was a good thing, that it meant she knew something he didn’t, but it wasn’t going to comfort him either way. 

“We won’t get caught.” Sachiko said flatly, clearly settling on repeating herself instead of freeing whatever fiery speech she had brewing inside of her.

“I know we won’t. Because while she’s at school these next couple of days, we’re going to find her mom, an aunt, a grandparent, and put her somewhere she belongs.” Taiga insisted, hoping Sachiko would remember that that was supposed to be the plan in the first place.

“You know as well as I do that’s not how it works out for girls like her. We respect her for who she is, but would most people?” Sachiko nodded, clearly trying to guide him down some train of logic. Admittedly there were a lot of people with more… conservative views in the world, and admittedly even overseas, in places where people could be slightly more progressive, girls like Yoiko weren’t exactly celebrated… but that wasn’t really something they were supposed to shoulder the burden of. Someone in Yoiko’s family had to be willing to accept her, or failing that, be someone she could trick.

“Why don’t we at least let her play her scam on one of them? She’s clearly good at it. All she would have to do is convince a grandparent that her father or mother had an illegitimate daughter, and then she’d be set.” Taiga held out hope Sachiko would hear his words and accept the argument, but the fire inside of her didn’t burn away. “She could have a loving family, we wouldn’t be breaking the law.”

“Right up until they tell her dad, and she’s right back with him again?” Sachiko sighed, grabbed him by the wrist, and stared up at him in despair, resorting to pleading to get her point across… and he had to hope it wouldn’t work. “That’s not how we help her, that’s just how we get her buried under a mountain of trouble for daring to be herself, for choosing to be anything other than her father’s perfect little son who does what she’s supposed to. They’ll undo all her surgery, make her live like a boy again, all so she can marry a girl she’s never even met. Do you really want to split Yoiko and Ukyo apart?”

That argument hit Taiga right in the gut. He’d just made a big show of being the girl’s father, setting her up with a reliable man who could have taken care of her if she needed it, and now he was advocating for tearing that relationship down. He wanted to think their love could bloom, he could make sure Ukyo got a good place near wherever Yoiko moved to, but Sachiko was right, that wouldn’t stop them from making a man out of Yoiko again, and he doubted a boy so clearly enamored with a girl like Yoiko was just going to accept his ideal wife becoming that wiry weed Yoiko had been before The Surgery.  

“No, of course I don’t, I just don’t think-” Taiga tried to defend himself, but he heard rapid footsteps as their fake daughter exited the bathroom, and his wife shushed him before he could stop her.

“We can keep fighting about it later. Don’t scare her.” Sachiko whispered, and despite all his reservations about the situation, Taiga agreed.

Chapter Text

After a long and exhausting day of doing nothing but true Anything-Goes martial arts all around town, Ranma allowed himself to step into the warmth of a steaming hot public bath, sinking down deep onto its clutches. Long held aches and pains cracked and crumbled away as he let out all his tension, freeing him to simply soak up the subtle satisfaction of well earned rest and relaxation. He was content, perfect, formless, and happy upon his semi-private sea.

“Must be awful lonely in here by yerself.” Said Ucchan, sliding into the baths next to him, letting the two enjoy their quiet moment together. “You ain't avoiding me, are you?”

“Avoidin’ you? Why would I go and do that after finally catching back up with you?” Ranma gently punched his pal in the shoulder, grinning as he stared across at the best guy in the whole world.

“Well I did tell yer dad I would be a man ‘nd go out with ya.” Ucchan laughed softly at the memory, but Ranma simply flattened down in the water. Right. He'd been trying to forget, as hard as was possible.

“Sure, but I knew you were joking, so I ain't worried about it.” Ranma knew he was lying, felt his words try to get lodged in his throat as he said them. Ucchan might have meant well when he agreed to all that, but now that Ranma had remembered it was eating him up inside. “I mean, we’re both guys, so it ain't like it meant anything.”

“You don't hafta be a guy.” Ucchan winked at him, and Ranma felt the bathwater run cold. Panicked, he looked down to check his body, but he remained a man, the water stayed steaming, it simply was no longer hotter than the fiery shame building inside of him, which was only worsened the longer he had to stare into Ucchan's beautiful green eyes. “But it doesn't really matter either way, right? I’m gonna be right by your side, no matter what.” 

Ukyo reached out to sling an arm around Ranma's shoulder, and the universe grew colder still, all except for the inferno pouring out of him, and the tender warmth radiating out of Ucchan's body. Caught between roaring heat and frigid chill, Ranma began to shiver, clouds of ice pouring from his breath, and he instinctively pressed himself against his warm friend’s comforting chest. It didn't- it didn't mean anything, he was just-

Ranma blinked, realizing it had all been idle fantasy, and he needed to stop daydreaming. He and Ucchan were pushing their okonomiyaki cart through a brutal snowstorm, ever in pursuit of adventure and fortune. His most trusted partner looked across their creaking cart at him and sent over a generously warm smile that blotted out the raging storm. His heart bid him to return it, to give in to what he wanted, but even alone in the wilderness he knew it wasn’t right.

He wasn't attracted to men. He just had a strong personal connection to Ukyo, and it was unfortunately easy to confuse their manly bonds of red-hot iron for the red thread of fate. 

Eventually, through what must have been hours of effort, they managed to find an unoccupied cabin that stood proud through the falling snow, and neither man could resist setting down their cart and running deep within. It was warm enough to live within, though it still necessitated Ranma sit unfairly close to the frustrating object of his desire.

Ranma bit his lip as he began to spread okonomiyaki batter out onto a portable griddle. Ucchan was the better cook, but Ranma had been trying to impress him lately, loved knowing he was making Ucchan happy, and there was something about cooking for a man like him that brought Ranma's world into alignment. Everything made sense for but a moment… until the weight of what he was doing crashed down upon him.

“Y- you don't think any of this is weird or nothin’ do you?” Ranma asked, nervously slicing his partner's first slab of savory delight. “I- I mean how did we even- we ain't supposed ta-”

“Weird? Ranchan, nothing you do’s been weird for a while. It's all kinda been growing on me if I'm being honest.” Ucchan laughed, and Ranma couldn't help but stare up at him with delight and chuckle back. He was right, Ranma was just overthinking things. Fatigue from the road was clouding his judgment, that was all. Ranma placed the okonomiyaki upon the table before his partner, but he couldn’t simply stop there.

“It’s good, right Ukyo? I’m finally figurin’ out this whole cooking thing.” Ranma said expectantly, slowly waving a slice of his home cooked meal in front of Ukyo’s face, who did bite it right out of the chopsticks. 

“Yer getting there, sugar, we’ll have you right by my side at the griddle before you know it.” Ukyo winked at him again, just like he always did when he wanted Ranma to know he really was special in some way. “But then who’s gonna be my waiter? Unless you wanna take turns, we’re probably gonna need to hire somebody… and I kinda like this business as something-”

“Intimate? Private? Just the two of us?” Ranma offered, rapping his fingers on the table as he waited for his own dinner to cook. “Yeah. I guess I could see us picking up a third or fourth somewhere… but I think I’d want ta give it a decade or so…”

“Took the words right out of my mouth. Now come on, we need to get to bed if we’re gonna get up when the blizzard breaks.” Ucchan hummed as he walked towards the lone bed in the cabin, and Ranma devoured his own food in a flash before following after the guy, humming all the while. Ukyo didn’t even stop to comment on the situation, collapsing onto the bed while leaving exactly enough space to let Ranma crawl in next to him. Some small part of him was still nervous splitting the bed with Ukyo… but it would pass. This was normal, part of their future. They couldn’t afford to worry, they had to huddle together to conserve warmth, look deep into my eyes, and wait to hear each other say: “I love you, sugar.”

Ranma bolted upright in bed, all of his muscles tensing and relaxing in a wave as awareness returned to him. He wasn't risking freezing to death in a run down cabin, he was home, in bed, feeling the sweat run down his back. The stupid damn curse had seen fit to try to break his will, but he'd beaten it back. 

Probably. 

It was all getting kind of fuzzy, but he was pretty sure he was still a pure guy in his dreams. He and Ucchan were just good pals running a business together. Honestly, that wasn't exactly a future that scared him; he'd traveled with much worse company for most of his life. It wasn't unreasonable for two men who cared about each other a whole lot to stick it out through thick and thin. All they would have really needed to do was find wives and start families, and just hope that one day their kids unified everything for them.

Ranma yawned right as his alarm clock began to ring, emitting a clear reminder of his new wake-up time. He sighed as he rolled out of bed and started slipping out of his men's tank top, all so he could pick out something to wear to this damned school. Sure he was glad he didn't have to cram himself into an ugly and constricting gakuran, but the lack of uniforms at all meant he actually needed to wear something that said something about him. Wearing a shirt and pants again was probably going to be practical, but he also knew his fake mom definitely expected him to slip into a cute dress for school on his first day. He was almost certainly going to regret it, but he was going to pull on the starry blue dress Mrs. Hibiki had bought him, it was something that was pretty, eye-catching, and was going to make a bold statement on his first day.

Pausing to look at himself in front of the mirror, Ranma pulled his family's headband on tight—just like Mrs. Hibiki had been doing it for him—and very briefly considered the merits of popping open his makeup case. He didn't want to be too showy… but a little purple eyeliner would go with his outfit. He just had to hope his glasses wouldn't distract from it.

His ruminations on vanity were interrupted at a gentle knocking hit his door, alongside the smell of fresh cooked eggs suddenly grabbing his attention.

“Yoiko, your mom just got breakfast ready. I hope you like omelets!” said Mr. Hibiki, marching off without waiting for a response, though Ranma wasn't going to be far behind him. He absolutely wanted to try his mom's omelets.

Surveying his surroundings from high atop a chiropractic clinic, Ranma consulted the overly detailed map his fake mom had given him. Supposedly, there was a ‘Furinkan High School' nearby if he just looked, but he had to admit that most of Furinkan had been hard to make sense of the entire time he'd been sprinting through it. Just panning his vision across the horizon wasn't really helping, but he did see a trickle of girls in identical teal dresses and boys in gray jackets heading in a uniform direction towards a big clock in the distance, and he supposed that was as good a lead as any. 

Though if they did go to his school, that meant there was a uniform after all, and he was going to stand out even more than he'd expected. Not that that was a bad thing, he was a martial artist, everyone was going to need to memorize who he was sooner or later.

Leaping off of the building he was perched on, Ranma somersaulted in mid-air for show before transitioning directly into a sprint the moment he landed. Following the trail of people proved to be the right idea, and after a series of turns he found himself running directly towards a large school with a tall clocktower, and he didn't even have to squint to make out the fact that the sign on the walls read ‘Furinkan High’. He wasn't sure how much time he had to spare, but he could still be satisfied that he'd managed to make it here at all, despite his choice not to use public transit like Mrs. Hibiki had asked him at breakfast.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and then another, and before he knew it a typhoon of violence had descended on the field he was running straight towards. In its eye, a poor girl stood against an ever circling mass of men, and though she was honestly doing a fairly good job of striking back at them, Ranma couldn't tolerate such a terrible attack befalling a poor defenseless chick.

He put on a burst of speed as he raced forward, already analyzing the horde for weaknesses. Ranma knew that even he couldn't really fight that many guys all at once and still win, but he knew that if he struck hard and fast at the edges, he could whittle down their number into something mangable before they could react to the real threat. 

With a mighty shout, Ranma leapt into the air and delivered a devastating flying kick to the first boy in his path, sending him flying. Ranma landed without a flourish and immediately loosed a follow up flurry of kicks into the increasingly confused stream of men running past him, batting each one aside without a second thought. He paused for a moment, and turned his head to look at his charge. Up close he could see she was fully engulfed in the storm of violence, punching, kicking, grappling, and using any weapon she found in her pursuit of victory. It wasn't what Ranma would call elegant, but the girl fought with practiced grace and utterly brutal efficiency. Her motions were efficient, quick, and decisive, sending clouds of men flying off of her with every blow she released into the air. Whoever these boys were, they were like ants trying to fight an avalanche or a tidal wave, crushed beneath her uncaring assault.

He almost felt sorry for the guys, almost thought he'd joined on the wrong side… but there usually wasn't a good excuse for forty guys to all try to assault one chick, even if she was strong. 

The girl noticed him and tilted her head in confusion, but before either could say anything he had to duck under a tennis racket and deliver three lightning fast punches into its owner’s gut. They were still in a pitched battle, and could make their introductions later. Ranma used the recoiling body of the tennis player as a springboard to launch himself towards a formation of rugby players, knocking them all flat as he passed between their ranks. 

Thankfully the end of the brawl seemed to be fast approaching, what stragglers remained struggled to present anything resembling a real threat, and most of them were already throwing down their weapons and retreating. The lone remaining hockey player stood tall in his goalie getup, but Ranma rushed him and delivered kicks to every unarmored and vulnerable joint before he could even try to make one last desperate attack. Panting from the exertion of his first actual combat in half a week—even if he was only tired because of the quantity of opponents he faced and not their quality—Ranma turned to send a peace sign over to the girl he'd thrown himself into battle to protect, who was only standing a few paces away, but she didn't seem especially impressed. Indeed she stared off into space behind him, utterly unaware of the moving figure fast approaching her. Ranma didn't know why she couldn't see the boxer trying for a sneak attack, just that he wasn't going to let the bastard hit her if he could help it. 

Ranma lurched forward towards the girl, though as he pulled back to deliver a kick just behind her, she grabbed him by the waist and spun him out of the way. Before he could do much to protest, the girl let loose a spinning punch into a fencer who had been rushing behind Ranma, sending the boy flying. The momentum imparted into Ranma by the bruiser holding onto him allowed him to swing his legs with substantially more force than he would have expected, and he slammed into the foolish boxer behind the girl with sufficient velocity that the boy was sure to feel it even through his stupid headguard. While the way Ranma threw his body should have wrenched him out of the girl’s grasp, she pivoted her weight the moment she felt him slipping, throwing her free arm around his back to catch and hold him, letting him sit aloft in her grip. 

The sounds of battle around them finally died, but the blood roaring in Ranma’s ears didn’t quiet, nor did his heartbeat manage to slow as he stared up at the girl he’d just come out here to save. For what felt like a minute, the two simply stared into each other’s shimmering eyes, each trying to figure out what to do or say in the aftermath. Ranma couldn’t wait, though, and wriggled his way out of the chick’s grasp, spinning around to-

Ranma had been tipped back closer to the ground than he’d thought, and hit the ground basically immediately. He let out a dull groan of protest at the indignity as he sat up with a scowl, and before he could stand up by himself the girl held out a hand for him to grab, clearly intending to help him up.

“Thanks, but I can take care of myself.” Ranma insisted, gently pushing the help out of the way as he stood up on his own, slowly surveying the aftermath of that fight. There had to be thirty guys laying around in heaps, the grand majority of them clearly members of sports clubs or other various jocks, though none of that explained why they’d been trying to fight an actual martial artist on her way to school. “You’re a heck-”

“I could say the same thing. I didn’t ask for your help!” The girl snapped her head to the side in a huff, her long blue-black hair flowing like a beautiful wave at the motion. “If I didn’t have to protect you, this fight wouldn’t have taken me so long to finish.”

“Protect me?!” Ranma stomped forward, flicking his pigtail dramatically back with his hand. “I ran in to save you! Did you expect me to just let a bunch of guys try ta beat you up or somethin’?”

“Why not?! This is only the thirty second day I've had to put up with this!” The girl sighed for far longer than Ranma expected, releasing her long held stress into the air. She ran her fingers through her bangs as she tried to calm down, but Ranma couldn't stop blinking in confusion that this was the kind of event that could happen for over a month. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't take that out on you. You just aren't the first person to help, and they're usually more of a pain in the rear than the idiots picking these fights in the first place.”

The girl took a deep breath to counteract her prolonged exhalation from before, and as she finally settled, she sent Ranma a shallow smile. “Honestly though, you aren't half bad as a martial artist. I'm just glad you aren't a boy.”

“What's that supposed to mean?!” Ranma hissed, rankling under the supposed compliment this random chick had just tried to hand to him.

“Every guy who's ever tried to help thinks that juuuust because they sided with me, I'll actually go out with them.” The girl laughed after she spoke, though it grew more and more awkward as she realized Ranma wasn't laughing along with her. “But you're just a girl. And a martial artist…”

The girl finally found the time to fully take in Ranma, drinking in the idea of her unexpected rescuer with a pause of satisfying awe that almost made up for Ranma having to be called not half bad and just a girl. “Are you… lost?”

“I hope not. This is Furinkan High, right? Ugh, if this stupid map got me turned around…” Ranma briefly considered fishing the map back out of his bag, but the girl nodded in agreement before he unshouldered it.

“It is, but… I don't recognize you. What class are you in? I had no idea someone else around here knew martial arts! Why did you take until now to step in and try to help?!” The girl’s words picked up speed as her excitement built, and Ranma couldn't help but chuckle. He hadn't expected to transfer into a school whose only other martial artist was a cute chick, but that was the risk he ran not going to a pure boys' school. 

“Uh… I think my mom said… 1-F.” Ranma tapped the side of his head as he tried to recall the instructions he was given, hoping he hadn't managed to screw that up. He needed to get here early, find a student store or something to buy gym clothes at, report to 1-F… and just go to school. His confidence in his memory failed as the girl across from him furrowed her brow. “That's a real class, right? My mom might have made a mistake.”

“Yeah, it is, it's just… did we get another transfer? Figures.” The girl sighed once again, though she swiftly started smiling softly at him after it faded. “I guess that makes us classmates, though. I'm Akane Tendo, do you wanna be friends?”

The name Tendo tickled at some locked away memory Ranma couldn't quite locate, nor did he have long to try, because Akane tilted her head perfectly in time with the sun exiting a cloud, and the sudden flash of radiant light framed her serene smile in a way that Ranma's heart couldn't truly ignore. 

“S- sure, I’m-”

“Bold must one be, to dare sully nature's purest and most refined beauty. I will give you but one chance, vile and beastly crone, step away from fair Akane before you draw yet more of my ire.” A boy began droning out some pompous demand, and Ranma saw Akane roll her eyes automatically. Turning, he was faced with a tall, towering man, dressed and ready for kendo practice, already holding a bokken in his hand. 

“Who’s this clown, and what's he yammering about?” Ranma asked, putting his hands behind his head. “Another boyfriend of yours?”

“I am no mere knave or buffoon, I am Tatewaki Kuno, the soaring eagle of Furinkan High, protector of all true women, smiter of evil, seeker of truth, and I will show a treacherous harpy like you no quarter should you test me, wretch.” Kuno placed another hand along his wooden sword, as if preparing to actually strike Ranma.

“Leave her alone, upperclassman Kuno, she hasn't done anything wrong.” Akane threw an arm in front of Ranma to bar Kuno's path towards him, turning her full attention to the obnoxious idiot. “Forget about my friend, I'm the one you want to fight anyway.”

“That is where you are wrong, oh radiant sunrise reborn among us mere mortals, this- this- thing masquerading as a woman commits unspeakable travesties with every moment it spends in your presence. Hear you not its keening call full of vulgarities, its every word is poised to drain the purity and virtue from your feminine soul…” Kuno continued and Ranma froze up slightly under the verbal assault. He had no idea how he'd been found out as an imitation girl so quickly—and by some washed up faux samurai wannabe no less—but sweat started to collect on his neck as he waited for the inevitable. If this went wrong, if everyone realized him for what he was, little Yoiko would be gone forever, her parents would be devastated, and Ranma would have to start running very quickly. “And that is to ignore the material reality of her revolting presence. Dear Akane, you know as well as I that allowing such an ugly creature near you is an affront to all that is good and just in this world.”

Ugly.

Ranma was ugly?! Repulsive?! Hideous?! Horrific?! A great and terrible stain upon reality?! How dare he insinuate that she was anything other than beautiful ?! Ranma’s body tensed as he prepared for action, but Akane interrupted him by more directly interposing herself between him and Kuno.

“What did you just call her?!” Akane demanded, stomping closer and closer towards the guy, eventually forcing him to take awkward steps back. Slowly she brought a hand out and slapped him with sufficient force for the smack to echo out across the courtyard. “How dare you say that about a girl?! Where do you get off, jerk?!”

“I- but I- Akane, you see the- she's wearing- and she has a pigtail-” The boy started trying to stammer out an excuse, but neither Akane nor Ranma were willing to let him finish. Akane slapped him a second time for good measure, but Ranma used the moment of distraction to take action himself 

Like a coiled spring suddenly released, Ranma rocketed towards Kuno before suddenly jumping to deliver a rapidly spinning kick directly to the bastard's jaw. He sailed off towards the far wall as Ranma rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles, his ego barely satisfied by the retribution 

“I don't know what that guy's problem is, but I sure as hell ain't gonna stand for it.” Ranma declared to no one in particular, especially since the gathered crowd of more normal students didn't seem to disagree with him.

“These fights are his idea, he thinks I'll go out with him if he can manage to beat me.” Akane replied, letting out yet another sigh about the situation. “He's been doing this ever since the semester started!”

“Don't take anything he said to heart, Ms…” A girl with her hair held up in a high ponytail started, smiling at him, clearly waiting for a name. 

“Hibiki, though you can just call me Yoiko.” Ranma said, returning the grin as he began to roll his shoulders and stretch his arms to burn off the last of his aggression. He wanted to at least seem approachable and friendly today. 

“Upperclassman Kuno is just kind of mean to everyone with glasses, though I've never seen him quite so cruel about it.” The girl continued, nodding solemnly alongside Akane and another three girls Ranma didn't know. “For what it's worth Yoiko, I think you're very cute.”

“That was going to be my line!” Akane added, only to have to narrow her eyes in deadpan frustration as the other assembled girls laughed at her. “Whatever, we need to get to class! Follow me, Yoiko, I'll show you the way.”

“So please give your new classmate a warm Furinkan welcome, and I hope you can all help take care of her!” said the homeroom teacher, having just finished introducing Ranma in the limited fashion he was able. For Ranma's part, he had no idea how to justify Yoiko's existence, and mostly just rambled about a few of his more innocent adventures in an attempt to avoid any public embarrassment. “You can go ahead and take a seat over there, by Ms. Tendo.”

The teacher pointed over at Akane, though the fact that the desks on either side of her were empty caused Ranma a little bit of confusion. Not wanting to make a fool out of himself earlier than he had to, he strode down the room and sat on Akane's left—mostly just because it was closer—and braced himself mentally for the inevitable fact that he was going to feel clueless all day.

He fidgeted with his thumbs to stave off stress as the teacher went through the roll call, not quite ready to devote space in his brain to trying to match names to faces. 

“Saotome? Is Saotome here?” The teacher asked, and Ranma felt his spine shudder as he sat straight upright out of surprise. He was about to run, sprint, or at least say something, when Akane interrupted his panic with a sigh.

“No sir, he's still missing.” Akane leaned back in her chair, and Ranma suddenly couldn't take his eyes off of her. Saotome was just a name, other people could have it, but he couldn't shake his worry either way. Was he supposed to be in this class, as a guy? Did Akane actually know this Saotome guy, or was she just the only person willing to point out the obvious? If she knew something, and that Saotome was supposed to be him-

Akane turned to face him, raising an eyebrow at his interest in her, and he couldn't help but slam his gaze all the way to the left, nonchalantly whistling to hide whatever he might have been thinking, though it also earned him a few girls laughing at him under their breaths.

He could spend time thinking about the implications of his guy side possibly going to the school later, however, as the end of roll call heralded the start of a math lesson Ranma felt fairly unqualified to be receiving. Or at least he assumed he was, but he was also a quick learner, and they were early enough in the semester that he could probably figure things out if he had a little help, though that did mean he was going to need to turn to face Akane again, swallow his pride, and ask.

“Ms. Tendo, I'm sorry to bother you… but could you help me figure this bit out?” Ranma whispered, hoping the teacher wouldn't notice his ineptitude and make what he didn't know a big deal everyone in the room had to hear about.

“It's really not that hard Yoiko, you shouldn't need help.” Akane replied, not remotely turning to acknowledge that he was speaking to her. He slumped down in his chair, his confidence shattered under that implication. Of course this was basic stuff for the others, and he was just going to get insulted for not knowing it. 

“Yeah. Sorry. I shouldn't have said nothin’.” Ranma stared back down at his book, though he was so utterly lost trying to listen to the teacher drone that he knew it wasn't going to amount to anything.

“Oh, alright Yoiko, you don't need to be so down about it. So first-”

Spending a series of classes basically tutoring the transfer student wasn't how Akane had expected to spend her Tuesday, but she supposed the teacher had stuck Yoiko next to her for a reason. Akane was more than able to take in the lesson and spit out a simpler version for the clearly lost girl, and she was nice enough to try. Besides, helping out a clueless girl was definitely going to beat having to put up with Mr. Saotome's son, whenever he bothered to stop being a runaway and show himself. 

But Akane only had to endure looking out for Yoiko for so long. Eventually class broke for lunch, and that meant Akane could lean back, relax, chat with her friends, and savor one of her eldest sister's incredible homemade lunches.  Without skipping a beat, Akane pushed her desk up against Yuka and Makoto’s desks, with Sayuri and Shikako following right behind so they could construct their little island in the center of the classroom. Personally, Akane preferred when they ate outside or on the roof, but she didn't mind the group voting to just eat in here this week.

“Hey Yoiko! Do you wanna eat with us?” Sayuri called out across the room, waving at the new girl who was standing all by herself with overabundant excitement. Akane was going to let Yoiko fend for herself for at least a few minutes, if only to give herself a break from looking out for the new girl… but her eating with them was going to be fine too. Akane did kind of want a chance to get to know another martial artist, especially since Yoiko was almost as good as Akane! She'd been needing a real training partner for years, so if Yoiko was even remotely willing to settle for training under Akane, it would be good for the both of them. “Why don't you pull up a desk next to Akane?”

“Fond of the new girl, huh?” Yuka whispered sharply, though whatever she was accusing her girlfriend of was lost on Akane. 

“She seems nice! Besides, she was halfway to sitting with Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Gosunkugi. You wouldn't wish that on her, would you?” Sayuri replied, still trying to wave as the new girl slowly walked over.

“Don't forget about the boys’ feelings, Sayuri!” Shikako’s stern gaze made her chastisement feel almost real, at least until she broke down laughing under her breath. “Daisuke wouldn't last five minutes next to her before he’d ask her out or something… and if she's anything like Akane he'd just get clobbered.”

“H- hey.” Yoiko said, very slowly sliding her seat up next to Akane. “T- thanks, for lettin’ me sit with all of you, I still feel kinda outta place. I can go somewhere else if I’m a bother.”

The new girl rubbed the back of her neck as she and everyone else produced their lunches, eager to grab a bite to eat before they had gym later today. Akane’s eyes sparkled as she realized she’d been right this morning, and Kasumi had gone through a lot of work to make her a stack of meat and potato croquettes for lunch today, alongside a few leftover meatballs from dinner last night. 

Yoiko tentatively pulled the lid off her lunch as well, her own sudden burst of excitement tearing through her as she stared down at rolled omelets, grilled rice balls, and some loose negimaki. It looked filling if nothing else, but definitely not worth the surprise she’d had on seeing it, and definitely wasn’t worth her suddenly breaking her composure to devour it like a maniac. 

“Must be good food.” Makoto said, chuckling at the frankly atrocious first impression Yoiko was probably making on the rest of the group, and Akane couldn’t really blame them. They all got to see Yoiko as the clueless girl who didn’t understand half of what was going on, who was eating like an animal, and talking kind of weird. 

Akane was the only one who got to see the other side of Yoiko, the girl who had rushed into a fight that wasn’t hers just because she thought—however incorrectly—that Akane actually needed help. Yoiko was fast, and the morning brawls were always hectic, so Akane didn’t have the clearest view of what had happened, but she saw enough. The girl dove directly into combat without thinking of the consequences, and raced around the outskirts of the fight like a whirlwind, every strike and movement flowing like water around the rocks that were her opponents. No one struck her, they couldn’t even get close, nor could anyone avoid her unending storm of punches and kicks that fell like rain upon the idiots foolish enough to try fighting her.

Some of her success was just down to the surprise of her showing up at all, of course, neither Akane nor the boys around her had really expected the arrival of a new martial artist, but Akane wasn’t going to pretend that meant Yoiko was unskilled. It was weird, Yoiko’s moves felt almost familiar, and yet so very foreign. She hardly stuck to any predictable stances or progressions, and her wild strikes were seemingly picked at random from a repertoire Akane could scarcely fathom, but Akane was sure there was something to analyze in the girl’s wild fighting style. She just needed some one on one time with the new girl, for the two to really lay into each other in pursuit of martial perfection, for-

Yuka elbowed Akane in the side, making her realize just how intently she'd been watching Yoiko for the last few moments. She blushed out of embarrassment and turned her head, since she needed to be eating, maybe talking, but not making the new girl uncomfortable.

“S- so, Yoiko, I have to say, you are really impressive… you know, as a martial artist.” Akane started, drawing barely perceptible groans from a couple of her friends. “Is that a specific style? It feels so… loose.”

“‘Course I'm impressive, I'm the-” Yoiko started speaking with a swagger, puffing out her chest for incredibly unneeded effect, but then she paused, seemingly searching for the right way to explain what should have been fairly simple. “I'm simply the martial artist that's willing to do whatever it takes to win, that's all. It ain't really a style, there aren't really rules, I just let myself loose like a fierce tiger and hope I can figure something out.”

“Self-trained, huh? I guess I should have guessed, your form did seem pretty sloppy.” Akane smirked at the new girl, confident yet again in her own superiority. She'd fought plenty of self-taught fighters—most of the boys trying to win her heart were that way—and their unpredictability aside they simply weren't ever going to stand up to consistent practice and a real grounded martial arts education. 

“What's that supposed ta mean?!” Yoiko suddenly flicked her face towards Akane, her pigtail whipping around from the motion. “Ain't nothing sloppy about my martial arts! The fact that you think that speaks pretty poorly of your adorable little nothing style.”

“Nothing style?!” Akane glared, one of her spare sets of chopsticks splintering in her grip. “The Tendo School of Anything-Goes is far from nothing! We have a dojo, you don't even have a name for what you know!”

“I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about regarding martial arts,” Yuka’s calm words filled the increasingly narrow void between Yoiko and Akane's faces, and the brewing martial tension started to dissipate under the interruption. “But maybe it would be better for her to tell us about herself? You know, so we can all get introduced to our new friend?”

Akane sighed and nodded, unfortunately aware that she had promised she was going to try to make friends with Yoiko. It wasn't Akane's fault that Yoiko had such a smug attitude and frustrating smirk that Akane had to wipe off her face… but they could always see about resolving that issue later.

“Uh… sure. I mean I told you most of what there is to say. I just made it back to Tokyo, my mom decided to enroll me in school, I'm kind of a martial artist…” 

“Is that other Hibiki someone you know? It's such a coincidence you were both supposed to start today!” Shikako asked, and Yoiko started fidgeting in response.

“Y- yeah. He's my bro, I guess mom figured while she was getting me set up here she might as well do him too…” Yoiko’s words grew quiet and concerned as she stared out the window, sighing to herself about something. “I do kinda hope he shows up. I haven't seen him in a couple years.”

“Were you really away from home that long?!” Sayuri asked, tilting her head as she tried to figure out how a girl could go that long without seeing her own brother. Frankly Akane couldn't imagine escaping her siblings for any stretch of time at all.

“Yeah- no- kinda. Look, nobody in my family has a good sense of direction, we consider it a small miracle if more than one of us makes it home at the same time…” Yoiko rubbed the back of her neck, the subject clearly somewhat of a strain on her heart. “It really doesn't make sense unless you've seen- or- or experienced it, I'm sure. I think I managed ta overcome my own version of the curse… but my bro ain't so lucky. Mom's probably expecting me to walk him to an’ from school or somethin’.”

Yoiko laughed like she'd told a joke instead of saying something perfectly reasonable, though maybe she was still talking about the getting lost thing. She was right though, Akane had no idea what made sense about pathfinding so bad it made you lose members of your family for years at a time.

“Okay, I'm sure this is rude, but I have to ask. Why do you talk like that?” Makoto asked, flatly dropping her question before getting back to eating her sandwich.

“I… ain't sure what you mean. Why do I talk like what?”

“That, the thing you're doing right there.” Makoto hurriedly swallowed just so she could speak, gesturing repeatedly at Yoiko. “You sound like some kind of street punk boy from the bad side of town. You didn't somehow go to a boys’ school, did you?”

Makoto asked her question matter-of-factly, but it elicited a series of giggles from Shikako and Yuka all the same. Akane had noticed Yoiko had been talking funny for a while, but it wasn't right to make fun of her for it. There were plenty of reasons she might try to sound like a guy, maybe to keep boys off of her, or-

“N- no! Absolutely not! I went to Sacred Heart Junior High School! It's a girls’ school!” Yoiko shouted, slowly shifting her words and tones back to something normal for a girl their age, if only to avoid everyone making fun of her. 

“Ooooooh,” exclaimed Yuka, nodding.

“That explains it.” Shikako added, looking Yoiko over slowly, her face already embarrassed over whatever she was about to say. “I've heard girls’ schools do that to people. Without any guys around, someone has to become prince of the tomboys and get all the attention. No wonder you call yourself a tiger.”

“W- what’s that supposed to mean, I’m not a- I mean I guess I’m kind of a tomboy, but that doesn’t mean-” Yoiko tried to stammer out, though she wasn’t going to fend off the allegations on her own. No amount of cleaning up how she spoke now would undo the first impression she’d given everyone else. Akane’s friends still treated her like an absolute tomboy just because she was a little less than properly feminine back in junior high and elementary! 

“Don’t let them get to you, Yoiko. Everyone still acts like I’m a tomboy too.” Akane turned to comfort their new friend, gently putting a hand on Yoiko’s shoulder as she smiled. “They’ll get over it eventually, especially if you remember to speak more politely.”

“O- oh. Yeah. Right. Because girls are supposed to-” Yoiko trailed off, apparently having seriously needed the reminder. Akane rolled her eyes, but she was still sure her friends were overreacting because Yoiko was new.

And if they weren't, well, there was a selfish part of Akane that was curious to see if her own reputation would improve with the crown prince of the tomboys at her side.

Sachiko had not anticipated the sudden influx of free time that was going to come with having a caring and kind daughter, but the complete lack of little tasks to do around the house was more than a little boring. Aside from making her and her husband something quick and tasty, she really didn't have much else to worry about.

Worse, since she'd gotten poor Yoiko hooked on watching shows with her mom, it didn't even feel right for Sachiko to catch up on anything without her. The best she could do was turn the TV on to something new and see about settling on a new series to soak up by herself, while her husband sat at her side, played with their dog, and continued looking like he actually did want to restart last night's argument.

“Sachi…” Taiga interrupted the moment after only a few more minutes, and she knew what was coming. Honestly she was impressed it took him until after lunch to resume fighting about their new child. 

“Yes, dear?” Sachiko asked as sweetly and innocently as she could, even going so far as to clasp her hands together and smile if it would make him even a little self conscious about what he was about to do.

“J- just wondering if now's a good time for us to talk about what our plan is with Yoiko.” Taiga looked up from his book with a weak smile of his own, and Sachiko could only sigh. It would have been easier if he was willing to be irrational or cruel about this, because then his protests over what to do about Yoiko would have been simple to ignore. Unfortunately his plan to find Yoiko’s relatives was understandable… she just didn’t want to do it. 

“What about it? I thought waiting for Yoiko to tell us what she wants would be a good compromise.” Sachiko said, hoping her nonanswer would shut her husband down before he got very far, but she knew it wouldn’t. 

“And what can she tell us other than ‘I’m leaving now’ or ‘I’d like to be taken to my real family now, please’, Sachi? She doesn’t have a lot of options.” Taiga shook his head, clearly not understanding how easy it would have been to let Yoiko’s little shenanigans take root until she was as real a member of the family as anyone else. “The least we can do for her is to look into who the better people to send her off to will be, when the time comes.”

“So what, we’re going to go on little trips to her grandparents? Pretend to be friendly visitors digging for information on whether an aunt she has might be better or worse than Mr. Saotome?” Sachiko sighed, just genuinely unsure how to even begin going down that road. Obviously siblings could be pretty different from one another, so maybe Genma’s possible siblings were sweet and kind, and people had kids for all kinds of reasons, so it was fully possible that Ranma’s mother was actually a fantastic woman who was simply denied a shot at raising her own child because Genma had stolen Ranma away on a training journey, but… 

“Well, yes, that sounds like a good first step. If we could find their phone numbers, we could just call them, or if we had their addresses perhaps we could write a letter. Tell them we met their relative who looked a little lost, and maybe they’d want to take her in.” Taiga clearly didn’t realize that the first biggest hurdle was going to be convincing these relatives that what they’d thought was some kind of a nephew was actually a niece, but she supposed it was plausible. Except that by calling them and not Mr. Saotome, they would almost certainly be clearly revealing to him that they’d done something wrong, if he ever found out. 

“I really don't think that's wise, dear. If we say or do something wrong, we might accidentally uproot everything good she has going for her too early.” Sachiko hoped her husband understood the depths of the things Yoiko was benefiting from at the moment, respected how nice it would undoubtedly be for her to have a father she could look up to with pride, or to have a mother in her life at all… and yes, perhaps, for her to have a true big brother she could stand side-by-side with.

“That good wouldn't happen to include the school you've put her in, would it? Because I still don't know how you made that happen.” Taiga narrowed his eyes, and Sachiko could only try to flutter her doe eyes and smile sweetly in the vain hope that it would help. “You didn't… you didn't do anything crazy, did you Sachi? I love you, but you can be… impulsive.”

“Define crazy.” Sachiko said, though her request made her husband sigh, reach out, and take one of her hands gently in his own.

“You didn't add Yoiko to our koseki, did you? Sachiko tampering with our family registry is a serious crime, and if you've somehow forcibly adopted-” Taiga was about to go off on something admittedly serious, but Sachiko couldn't stop herself from laughing at him. That was definitely something she'd planned out how to get away with, as soon as Yoiko was ready to be honest, and if Yoiko wanted to be a Hibiki with all her heart…  but she hadn't done anything so serious.

“No dear, nothing like that! I've just… agreed to bribe a few people, that's all.” Sachiko smiled again, but her husband groaned and held onto her hand even tighter.

“B- bribed? You b- bribed who, dear…” 

“Oh, just someone who works at the girls’ school down the road, so I could say Yoiko definitely graduated! And the nice people who handle applications for Furinkan High.” Sachiko feared the worst, but her husband's grip loosened at the news. She had no idea what he'd thought she'd been planning, but she wasn't doing anything too abnormal. She was sure normal parents did this kind of thing all the time! “Which reminds me, now that we’re friends, I was going to take them out with me and the rest of the girls tomorrow to celebrate. I shouldn’t be gone… more than a day, but you won’t mind looking after Yoiko while I’m gone, right?”

“N- no, I guess I don't… though I promise she could look after herself without me…” Taiga said, though he flinched as Sachiko narrowed her eyes at him. He would have made an effort to be around for their son and take care of him, he was going to do the same for their daughter too. “B- but I guess spending time with her won't hurt…”

Sachiko nodded her head and clasped her hands together at her victory. She may not have won the war over Yoiko just now, but forcing him to spend time alone with her would deal a decisive blow, and he would know just as well as Sachiko that they couldn't let the world break her beautiful heart. 

She just had to wait until tomorrow.

Ranma leapt high into the air, and swung his racket to intercept the rapidly approaching lead-filled birdie, and send it hurtling back over the net to the other side of their oversized court. Akane wasn't going to go down yet, however, and she managed to return the birdie with incredible force yet again. 

Badminton had never sounded very fun to Ranma, and actually playing the normal version of it for gym had been exhaustingly boring, but the teacher quickly realized the issue and had corrected it in the only possible way. Why Furinkan High had the supplies for an exaggerated version of the game was beyond him, but flinging the heavy target in a rally with Akane—the only girl who could remotely keep up with him—was actually almost satisfying. She had more experience than him, but he had raw talent, and all he had to do was prove it. They were tied at twenty each—largely as a result of his coming to grips with the rules and absolutely nothing more—but he knew he could still win this.

Ranma ran to continue the rally, taking a massive swing to prove his dominance over his inferior opponent. It didn't matter how strong she was, how much fun she was having, or much she was grinning with joy at the friendly match, he was going to swallow all of that and-

“That's a point for Akane!” Shouted Sayuri as Ranma's overzealous and distracted strike launched the birdie well outside the legal playing area, leaving it embedded in the concrete instead. “This next one’s going to the match point for the reigning champ!”

“Please, Yoiko can come back from this!” Yelled Shikako, waving a red and black tiger-striped flag in Ranma's support—he had no idea where she'd gotten it or why she thought it represented him, but he sure as heck wasn't going to refuse getting cheered on. “Knock her socks off, Yoiko!”

Ranma flashed a peace sign and a toothy smile to the assembled crowd of girls backing her as Akane wound up her next serve, all to look distracted. Ranma’s opponent predictably timed her shot to take perfect advantage of his moment of weakness, only to return the serve with incredible ease, setting Akane on the backfoot. This was possibly the last point for Akane, and she was going hard to earn it. Both combatants rallied the birdie with force, each time getting closer and closer until the net until they were trying to predict their next show mere moments before the other martial artist sent it hurtling past them. Unfortunately for Akane, this was Ranma’s element, and after arming himself with a cruel smirk he allowed himself to focus and enter a state of pure martial excellence, no birdie could get past him at this distance, he was constantly ready to receive and return it to Akane’s worst position, and after only two minutes of continual exertion, Ranma caught Akane off guard with a feint. She dove to the right just a moment too early, the birdie skipping off of the reinforced court somewhere behind her. 

“And they’re all tied up again! Let’s go Yoooooiko! Let’s go!” Makoto declared, starting up a chant of Ranma’s name among his supporters. How he'd become something so respected so quickly was beyond him, but his pride surged as he wallowed in the attention and readied himself for his serve.

“Ah-Ka-Ne! Ah-Ka-Ne!” Was the return change coming from across the court, but that only bolstered Ranma's confidence too. His current rival had real backing, people actually thought she could take him, and that was going to make his victory all the sweeter.

Ranma cast the heavyweight birdie upwards and struck it, watching it sail down the arena, Akane raced to return it, but she'd knocked it up far too high. Ranma raced forward, jumped high into the air so the sun sun would be at his back, and-

A shrill whistle interrupted Ranma's laser focus, and the birdie blew past him unharmed. Down below the instructor was announcing the class as over, and Ranma had to follow behind the other girls as they returned to the girls' locker room.

The girls' locker room.

Getting changed into his girly gym shorts and the loose top had been easy and harmless, because he’d gotten here late—having needed to actually source a set of gym clothes—but now he had to face the very real fact that all of his things were currently resting in a room surrounded by girls his age who were casually undressing and changing. Any straight boy in this situation would blush, and it was all Ranma could do to keep it together, robotically march towards his locker, and start changing himself. In fact, it was probably going to be easy, he was overthinking this. He had to remember, he was a girl, and despite how much being a girl was making him feel weird things about his old pal, girls didn’t like other girls. All he had to do was slip back into his dress, and hope nobody said anything. 

“I didn’t get to say, that was a fun match out there, Yoiko.” Akane’s words unfortunately shuttered that dream, especially as she took up a position at the locker next to his. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for someone like you to show up. It’s been kind of lonely being the only…”

“Super jock?” Replied Yuka from somewhere else in the room, but Ranma wasn’t going to look around to check any more than he had to. Staring at Akane to talk to her was already running enough of a risk. He was hoping the curse was strong enough to stop his classically male emotions for a girl like Akane undressing in front of him from being obvious… but if it wasn’t, he didn’t expect to get let off easy, especially if everyone found out he was some kind of interloper and thought he was spying on girls. “Martial artist?”

“Whatever, my point is, I’m glad you’re here, Yoiko.” Akane waved her hand dismissively off to her right, and Ranma nodded and gulped, trying to find the nerve to respond to the compliment.

“Y- yeah, I hafta admit, it coulda been pretty boring out there if you weren’t here… no offense ta anyone else, but-”

“You’re also a super jock?” Makoto interruption took some of the wind out of Ranma’s sails, but at least the rest of what she had to say continued to lift his spirits. “Or a superer jock? I still think Yoiko would have won.”

“There’s always next time.” Sayuri laughed, though her next words were far more serious than he’d expected. “Heck, we can probably even bet on it. You know upperclassman Tendo is going to hear about Akane’s new rival before the day’s over.” 

“Upperclassman Tendo?” Ranma asked reflexively, still not entirely sure why Tendo felt familiar, but he was starting to get used to it, whatever it was. It felt like he was probably really young the last time he heard it before today, so it probably wasn’t very important.

“My sister, she’s in the year above us, I’m… sure you’ll meet her soon.” Akane sighed, buttoning her shirt. “You know how siblings are, I think. Are twins different?”

“Uuuuh… I wouldn’t know, he’s the only sibling I have.” Ranma responded, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried not to get too deep into a topic he was actually completely clueless about. “And like I said, my relationship with the guy is… different, we hardly ever get to see each other. It’ll be weird seeing him every day again…”

“So, Yoiko, Akane, are you two going to, you know, join some of the sports teams this year? I bet Furinkan could win any trophy it wants with you two at the helm.” Shikako said, making Akane’s face light up at the suggestion. Ranma… wasn’t going to be here long enough to win any trophy, or if he was he’d only really have time to win one, but he supposed his friend was right. He and Akane could definitely win anything if they worked together. 

“Okay, game plan Yoiko, how do you feel about softball? Volleyball? Heck we could even win at rhythmic gymnastics or-” Akane tried to start spouting off her string of pitches, but Ranma had already finished changing, and he didn’t want to be in here any longer than he had to. He was just going to smile and nod, and hope that was the right call.

“It doesn’t really matter what sport it is, Akane, as long as I’m with you.” Ranma grinned at his rival as he turned and started to exit with a flourish, leaving the rest of the locker room stunned into silence by his conviction and confidence, exactly like he wanted.

The end of the school day passed by without much fanfare, and after an impromptu group hug with her new friends, Ranma was turned back out onto the streets of Furinkan, stuck trying to navigate that maze in order to find his way home. Thankfully the return trip was easier now that he knew the vague direction he needed to travel, and he made it back to Suginami in record time. It would have been easy to head straight home, grab dinner, chat with his supposed parents, and enjoy the rest of his night… but that Castellofino Gelato place Ucchan worked at was on the way, and he needed to chat with his old friend, clear some stuff up between them, and maybe get a scoop of something while he was there. 

All Ranma had to do was duck down a couple side streets, and then he could see the fancy facade of the business in the distance, drawing him in. He wasn’t really sure what the name meant or anything, but he knew good ice cream when it was served to him, especially when it was served to him by a handsome- 

He growled at himself as he pulled open the door, fighting down his curse so he could just have a normal conversation with his pal, unburdened by any weird feelings. Whatever pseudocrush this body had on Ucchan, Ranma was stronger than it, he could ignore it if he tried. 

“Welcome, let me know how I can help you!” Declared the boy behind the counter—Hiroto, if Ranma's memory worked—who’s simple customer service smile turned a little more genuinely friendly as he waved. He flicked his head toward a table Ukyo was busy bussing before continuing to shout. “Ukyo, your girlfriend’s here!” 

“He ain’t my girlfriend.” Grumbled Ukyo, his back to Ranma as he finished up the last of his task with an increasingly frustrated urgency. Ranma didn’t know why having to say that would make Ucchan mad, but Ranma folded his arms at the complaint regardless. “For the last time Tsubasa, I told you, I’m already-” 

Ukyo shut up the moment he turned around, the shock and surprise straightening his spine and causing him to lock up for several awkward seconds. “O- oh, hey Ran- uh, Yoichan, I didn't realize you were coming over.”

“Who's Tsubasa?” Ranma asked while tapping his foot and narrowing his eyes. He hadn't expected Ukyo to actually have a girlfriend or whatever, but it was a good thing, probably. It meant Ranma could stop thinking about him, his buddy had eyes for another, prettier girl, because Ranma was ugly and- He took a deep breath and tried to push that thought out of his mind. He did not need to think about that Kuno jerk’s insults. Ranma was an attractive girl, no matter what he thought. “A friend of yours?”

“Tsubasa is a pest and nothing more, Yoichan, I promise.” Ukyo rubbed the back of his neck as he stared down at Ranma, chuckling to himself out. “S- so, what brings you out t- to our establishment today? Do you want me ta get’cha something, I can recommend the black sesame today, I made it myself. O- or do you want me to make you something off menu. I-”

“Just wanted to hang out after school, Ucchan, I didn't need nothin’ from ya. I've been missing you for nine whole years, man, I just wanna…” Ranma stumbled as he tried to figure out exactly what to say. Just hanging out sounded too casual, catching up sounded like they were just gonna talk about the time they'd been gone, but he had no idea how to convey that he just wanted to be with Ukyo, sit next to him and chat about nothing at all, at least until they got bored and decided to do something fun like old times. Ranma could have fought and pinned his pal no problem, especially now that he was older and wise enough to avoid the gunpowder tempura. Then they'd bandage each other up, make food together, and just… exist with each other. He wanted that, but they weren't kids anymore, and he had no idea how to ask for it.

Fortunately his body had a solution to his mental deadlock, and the mere suggestion of food caused his stomach to grumble loudly, despite how reasonably filling his lunch had been.

“I insist, Yoiko. Besides, your dad would never forgive me for letting you go hungry if I could help it, right?” Ukyo didn't wait for Ranma to respond before running off into the back of the restaurant, which left Ranma standing awkwardly as he awaited whatever Ukyo had in store.

After about a minute Ukyo returned, pushing a griddle on wheels out of the back, and outside the store. Instead of telling Ranma where they were going, he grabbed Ranma by the hand, dragging him along as they crossed the street and entered a very small public park. There really wasn't much to it, but Ranma supposed it had a bench and space for Ukyo to cook, so at least for now it was as good a place as any to walk… and he wasn't going to refuse a little of Ukyo's home cooked okonomiyaki, assuming that was what was happening. 

“So do I get to decide what I want to order, or-” Ranma tried to ask, but his pal was already throwing batter down on the griddle, and Ranma could smell the cooking shrimp already.

“Shrimp, ginger, tempura, with octopus and an egg on top, right? I think I cooked this enough times ta remember it, sugar.” Ucchan laughed, and Ranma simply had to be embarrassed that he was so predictable, and flattered that Ucchan had bothered to hold onto that memory for long. “So, how was your first day at that Furinkan place?”

“Confusing and boring,” Ranma sighed, sitting on the bench as he waited for his food to be ready. “I never really finished middle school, Ucchan, and they expect me ta know a whole lotta stuff I don't. I got to help a chick beat up a bunch of boys, but they couldn't even put up a real fight! If I hadn't made friends with a couple other girls, I wouldn't even bother going back tomorrow.”

“Wait, you never… Yoichan, you and me should have a chat with your old man, that's terrible!” Ukyo protesting Ranma's lack of education was sweet, but he'd already accepted it as a fact about his life. He wasn't very educated, and that was fine, the path of a martial artist didn't call for book smarts, and when was he ever gonna need to actually use any of this math or social studies? 

At least, he liked to think that way before. Now he felt the absence of that knowledge compared to his peers, and it kinda hurt his pride. None of those other kids were better than him! They just had better opportunities! “Good that you've been meeting people though, I'd hate to be the only person you knew. They interesting?”

“I guess. They're all girls though, and it's a strange lettin’ them treat me like one of ‘em.” Ranma let his head rest on his hands, trying to figure out how best to describe each of them. “There's Sayuri, she's kinda bubbly and happy all the time, she and this more serious Yuka girl have an… I dunno, bond or something. One of my ‘friends’ spent a lotta time makin’ fun of how weird of a girl I am, but…” 

Ranma sighed and waved his hand to clear the air. He didn't need to get into the gritty details of girls Ucchan would never meet and wouldn't relate to as a guy anyway. Mentioning that Shikako had cute freckles and wouldn't stop staring at him didn't matter, the only interesting girl to talk about was Akane. “I guess the coolest girl in the group is Akane. She's good at martial arts. Not as impressive as me of course, but it's nice ta have someone so nice to practice with.”

“Especially since last I recall, yer pretty addicted to getting into stupid fights.” Ucchan sighed, and Ranma puffed up in response. He didn’t get into fights just for the sake of fighting! He and Ukyo had been playing games when they were kids, and when he fought other kids it was because he was making the other kids stop calling them girls! “Though, you know I’m still up to go a round or two with you, at least on Sundays. You ain’t gonna push me around like you used to.”

“I’d ask if you wanted ta bet, but… you’re already feeding me, so it ain’t like I can win anything.” Ranma let out one of his special overconfident smirks, just so his first rival could know how certain he was of his victory, and so he wouldn’t have to keep talking. Ranma also didn’t exactly have anything to offer the guy.

“Hey, I’ve got a job! I’m good for all kinds of stuff.” Ucchan flipped Ranma’s okonomiyaki up high into the air, giving him ample time to bring a hand to his face and strike a pose while it fell. “I’ll tell you what, if you win, I’ll take you out anywhere you want, and if I win, you’ll go on a date with me.”

“Ha ha, very funny, man.” Ranma rolled his eyes at the stupid suggestion, though more importantly he felt his cheeks burn as the joke was made at his expense. Ucchan was just poking fun at him for having a girl curse, because he was a big dumb handsome jerk. “Don’t make jokes like that, it ain’t… I ain’t…” 

Ucchan let Ranma trail off, their gazes not quite meeting as he put the finishing touches on Ranma’s fresh and ready okonomiyaki. All the weird emotions rolling around in Ranma were rapidly replaced by pure anticipation. Ucchan had been a fantastic cook when they were six, and if his skill with a spatula had improved as much as Ranma’s fist fighting prowess, this was going to knock Ranma off of his feet. It took incredible willpower for Ranma to avoid swallowing the thing whole, though he still ended up shoveling as much of it in his mouth as would fit. 

“Saying it’s the same as ever kinda feels like an insult…” Ranma said as soon as he had chewed enough to swallow the little slices of divinity he’d been provided. Whether or not Ukyo improved or not didn’t matter, he was going to have a broad smile on his face as he leaned back on the chair regardless, because they were every bit as perfect as his nostalgic memories of better days told him they were. “But… they’re exactly what I’ve been craving ever since we had to split up. Thanks Ucchan…”

“Long as I’ve lived up to yer expectations, I guess I can be satisfied, sugar.” Ucchan leaned forward and grinned back at him, at least until the guy started dropping two more servings of batter onto his griddle. Ranma hadn’t quite finished eating his first ‘order’, but he really didn’t need a second or a third, especially not while Mrs. Hibiki was undoubtedly going to be making him something to eat later tonight. 

“U- Ucchan, I know it can be surprisin’ to hear about me, but I’m not that hungry. It’s real sweet of you to do all this for me, and I don’t really know why you’re being so nice, but-” 

“They’re fer yer parents, Yoichan, relax. Your mom’s missing the taste of home, right? Who else can really tell me I did a good job but her?” Ucchan’s face was deadly serious as he relayed his task, and Ranma nodded in understanding. For him, this had to be like when Ranma learned someone else’s technique just to show it off to them. He wanted validation, and Ranma would run home and get it for him, as soon as the okonomiyaki was finished. “Also yer dad might want some too. I’d hate ta get on his bad side, especially since I’m… pretty sure he’s yakuza, Yoichan.”

“I dunno, I told mom the same thing, and she got really defensive… maybe he just has those vibes?” Ranma tapped his forehead anyway, trying to get to the bottom of that thought himself. “Didn’t he give you his business card? Doesn’t that mean he works for a legitimate business or somethin’?”

“Or a front! He’s in ‘real estate’, Yoichan, it ain’t exactly the gentlest profession right now.” Ukyo sighed as he continued working the batter, just as focused on getting these gifts just right as he was on the conversation. “Look, he’s got that kinda stocky build where I can’t tell whether or not he’s fulla muscle, and the way he threatened me when gave me permission ta be your loving and caring boyfriend gave me chills…”

Ukyo shivered for effect, but Ranma melted down in his seat, trying to hide his once again burning cheeks behind his hands. That boyfriend stuff was frustrating, he just had no idea how or if to bring it up, especially since he didn’t wanna sound like he was insulting Ucchan or anything. He just couldn’t- they couldn’t- it wouldn’t have been- 

Ranma groaned to herself, wishing she understood what made girls tick so she could stop feeling any kind of way about Ukyo. Ucchan was just gonna make fun of her if he knew how she felt, especially since all those feelings and emotions were caught up in the stupid curse where they didn’t make sense and her whole body burned with embarrassment and… 

And unfortunately, a little bit of pride. Because that Kuno creep had insulted her earlier, but Ucchan…

“Hey, Ukyo, do you think I’m pretty?” Ranma asked abruptly, the sudden painful craving for validation from the one boy worth a damn overpowering any sense of restraint or tact.

“W- w- what? I- I mean- Well Yoiko, that’s- Look at you, how could-” Ukyo started fumbling with his tools, his hands struggling to find anywhere to sit, eventually coming to rest on the still warm griddle as his face began to glow a vivid scarlet. This felt like a simple question, so Ranma really didn’t know what was so hard about it to answer, but he wasn’t going to push Ukyo as the guy fumbled around for a minute or two like a fool. 

Especially since that was satisfying, and Ranma didn’t know why. 

“S- sorry, I didn’t mean ta distract you or anything, this guy at school, he got all in my face and acted like I was ugly, repulsive, disgusting, and- and-” Ranma swallowed air, already knowing he was about to have to repeat himself, because his heart really did want an answer, it needed to know. Ukyo wasn’t going to lie to him. Either Ranma was an attractive young woman with assets a plenty—which would be a boon for her self-esteem—or Ranma was an objectively ugly, mannish, and boorish tomboy, and at least that would mean Ucchan was making fun of him any time he got kinda flirty. “I just want to know if you think I’m beautiful, sexy, pretty, or at least cute…”

“Y- Y- Yoiko! You can’t just ask me that!” Ucchan turned his head away out of guilt at the answer, leaning onto the griddle even harder. A gentle burning smell hit Ranma’s nostrils, but he couldn’t tear himself away from staring into where Ukyo’s eyes should be, holding his hands close together over his chest, trying desperately to be cute and adorable so he could at least have something. “It’s not- I mean obviously- Look I always kinda- Of course yer pretty! I called you that at least a couple of times yesterday while I was flirting with you, back when you were just a cutie named Hibiki I’d never met before! If there’s any jerk who wants to insult how you look, you send him to me, and I’ll-”

Relief washed over Ranma at the affirmation, which also softened Ranma’s focus enough that he noticed exactly what the weird burning smell was. The okonomiyaki was burning, but far more importantly so were both of Ucchan’s wonderful hands! Racing forward, Ranma pulled Ukyo’s hands up off of the heated teppan, staring at the bright red marks where they’d been so foolishly in contact with their doom on his behalf.

“Ucchan! You need to be more careful! Are you hurt?! You’re hurt! I’ll be right back!” Ranma raced off as his friend offered some token words to dissuade him, but Ranma simply didn’t have time for tough guy crap. Hand burns were serious, and Ranma wasn’t remotely willing to let Ukyo risk his livelihood, especially not when Ranma’s good looks were what distracted the bastard. 

Without sparing a thought for anyone in his path, Ranma sprinted into the gelato shop, headed for the men’s bathroom, and pulled open the emergency first aid kit he’d seen on the wall. He rapidly filled his arms with bandages and burn ointment before immediately pivoting on his heels and running outside to a vending machine, whereupon he bought a bottle of chilled water, and then returned to Ucchan, having spent perhaps a moment away from the poor dumb idiot who needed help. 

“R- Ranchan, it’s okay, relax, I’m-” Ukyo tried to croak out to stop Ranma from doing the right thing, but Ranma wasn’t going to listen. She turned off Ucchan’s griddle, pushed the boy down onto the bench, and started gently pouring out the cool water over his still red burns. As soon as Ranma was reasonably confident he’d gotten everything cooled off, he squeezed out some ointment onto Ucchan’s hands and massaged it in as softly and delicately as he could so as to avoid agitating the wounds. Once she was confident things were appropriately damp, she started wrapping his hands and fingers as loosely as she could with the clean bandages, just to keep air off the potentially damaged skin while it healed. This was everything Ranma knew how to do, and it wasn’t perfect, but it was going to need to be good enough for the jerk who hurt himself for no damn reason. 

“There, all done. If it feels too tight, let me know so I can try again, we don’t want you agitating anything…” Ranma said, still inspecting his handiwork on the off chance that he needed to redo anything. “That’s everything I can do short of kissing it better, so I hope it helps.”

“Sugar, this was real sweet and kind of you to worry about me… but you really didn’t have to do anything.” Ucchan laughed, pulling Ranma down onto his lap and into a tight hug, despite his recent injury. Ranma wanted to complain, but frankly he was just glad Ucchan was already feeling better. “I’m a professional! I mastered the teppan-ken a while ago, this really doesn’t hurt, I promise it looks worse than it is.” 

“You were thrown into a pit with a buncha griddles?!” Ranma asked while Ucchan laughed off both the situation and Ranma’s concerns. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care how fireproof you are! I ain’t gonna let you sit there in pain to prove a point! I care about you, jackass!”

Ranma felt reasonably confident that throwing Ucchan’s words from the other day back at him would prove some kind of point, not that he was really sure what it was as he awkwardly sat on his friend’s lap, waiting to find the strength of will to stand up. Until that moment came, he was just going to lean against Ucchan, try to ignore just how thoroughly he’d overreacted, fight off how embarrassed he was that he’d gone full mother hen over a harmless little burn, and enjoy being so close to the guy.

“Hey, Ukyo! Your break’s up!” Shouted Ukyo’s cousin from across the street, aggressively beckoning for the guy to stand up and go back inside. Ranma could tell it was with a heavy heart, but he did rise up off the bench, politely place Ranma back down upon it, and start pushing his griddle back into the restaurant. 

“It was good hanging out with you Yoichan, lemme know if you wanna do it again sometime, but I gotta get back to work! And uh… just remember,” Ucchan’s whole body tensed up as he took a deep breath, preparing for what had to come next. “You’re really attractive, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

He started sprinting off at full speed back towards his family’s ice cream shop, leaving Ranma with words he couldn’t say lodged deep in his throat, and a very weird fluttering in his gut.

Chapter Text

“I'm back!” Yoiko declared as she made her way back inside the family home, and Sachiko couldn't stop herself from smiling as Shirokuro stepped off the couch to run towards the person most likely to enthusiastically pet her. Sachiko wasn't the most surprised by that, the air between her and Taiga had been very slightly tense all day, and Shirokuro was the poor soul who had been cursed to lay down between them and wait for it to blow over.

Sachiko hadn't really given any thought to how long it would take her daughter to get home from a new school, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Yoiko was a little earlier than she should have been. It didn't really matter beyond the fact that Sachiko hadn't even thought to start dinner yet, but it did make her just a little worried that her kid had decided to spend the day being truant. 

“Welcome back, kiddo!” Sachiko called back as she walked to greet Yoiko as well, and silently hoped Taiga would follow. “Did you find school okay? I didn't write you a bad map, did I?”

“Don't worry, I made it there with time to spare!” Yoiko grinned and laughed triumphantly as she finished taking off her shoes—a simple task that had been interrupted by Shirokuro’s desperate desire for attention. “Though I gotta say whoever designed Furinkan was really bad at their job.”

“If you think Furinkan is bad, just wait until you end up in Tomobiki.” Sachiko laughed in return, not actually wishing that on her poor daughter. “Nerima is full of little places I swear aren't even on maps, you need to be careful kiddo. So, you made it to school, but how was it, Yoiko?”

“Normal.” Yoiko shrugged, and something about her tone and the way she turned away from Sachiko suddenly felt more than a little evasive. Normal was a funny thing for her to say, considering how little experience she probably had with coeducational schools. She was probably just a little overwhelmed getting to be a girl among girls instead of a man among men, and likely nothing more. 

“That's good! Just make sure to tell me if anything bad happens, okay? I don't want to keep you in a place that isn't good for you.” Sachiko said, still trying to figure out how she could coax at least a few more details out of her daughter. “Did you make any friends, at least?”

“I think so! I kinda fell in with a group of five other girls, and they all seem really nice!” Yoiko said, bouncing slightly for effect. That was perhaps the thing Sachiko had been hoping for the most. Yoiko deserved friends, and meeting a bunch of other girls her age would probably help her feel more comfortable in her own brand of femininity and who she wanted to be specifically. “One of them even knows martial arts! It'll be good to have a rival again!”

“Oh, good! Are you both in the karate club?” Sachiko asked, though Yoiko couldn't hide her disdain at the mention of formalized martial arts practice.

“No, mom, I think she just does it in her free time, at home or whatever.” Yoiko probably didn't realize how much less impressive that sounded than participating in a nice club and little tournaments, but Sachiko supposed she wasn't going to push Yoiko to join anything just yet. Especially since she had hoped Yoiko would try to pursue one of her other passions anyway.

“Well, okay. Just make sure neither of you actually get hurt, alright kiddo? I don't want to hear about my daughter turning into a marauding brawler.” Preemptively chastising her own daughter didn't feel the greatest , but Sachiko remembered Ryoga's complaints about Yoiko, and how under her dad's tutelage she did tend to pick fights with anyone willing to try to go a round or two with her. The local boys' school was lucky it had Ryoga to hold Yoiko's attention instead of letting her run wild.

“Relax, she might be a- a dojo girl, but I'm sure she can take it.” Yoiko said, her choice of insult forcing Sachiko to raise an eyebrow as she struggled to decode it. “Besides, I'll be going easy on her anyway, so don't worry about it.”

Sachiko may not have actually found that terribly reassuring, especially since it made it sound like Yoiko might have been picking on this other girl instead, but she supposed she was going to just have to sit back and let whatever was happening happen. She reached forward and tousled her daughters hair before she turned around and started walking off. 

“Alright, sweetheart, I believe you. I'll get dinner out in about forty minutes, so don't start anything you can't stop, okay?”

Akane's foot connected directly with the chest of the last fool who dared try to fight for her heart, sending him flying off into the distance with what should have been a satisfying arc. Except, Yoiko had chosen that moment to springboard off of the last boy she was fighting too, and she had the audacity to deliver a diving kick into Akane's quarry. It didn't really matter, Yoiko was just showing off, but Akane still couldn't help but feel like the smirking girl was doing it just to bug her.

“Did you really have to interrupt my fight again, Yoiko?” Akane asked with a sigh as she approached her new rival, trying to mask just how much she honestly did appreciate getting to watch Yoiko fight under a thin veneer of frustration. “I told you, I can handle this myself!”

“Hey, they started attacking me first, and why wouldn't they? I'm very pretty.” Yoiko bragged, laughing into the back of her hand as she stood there puffing out her chest in her cute blue top and pair of simple pants that marked her as a real tomboy. “Sorry Akane, you're gonna hafta learn to share the wealth. Don't get too jealous that some of them would rather win my hand instead.”

“Like I would be jealous over you.” Akane rolled her eyes as an idea slowly crept into her mind. She dropped back into her fighting stance and cracked her neck. “You're just taking the only practice I can get these days… so come on, compensate me, jerk! Let's go a round, we have time!”

Yoiko tilted her head as she stared back at Akane, her sudden scowl telling Akane very little other than the fact that Yoiko was probably about to make some excuse and refuse, if only so she wouldn't get shown up in front of the whole school. “I guess we could do it at my place later, if you're too scared to lose in public.”

“Oh I ain't scared of a chick like you.” Yoiko laughed once more, but she couldn't distract Akane from the fact that her tensing muscles and shifting posture betrayed how much she was getting ready to fight or flee. “I just don't wanna hurt your feelings in front of everyone.”

That was all the agreement Akane needed, they'd both insulted each other’s pride and assumed a position, the fight was on. Akane didn't wait for Yoiko to take the first move, instead she charged and delivered a mighty swing straight for Yoiko's chest—hoping to take the girl out in one shot—but Yoiko effortlessly dodged around the blow, and then slid around the next, and another, even bending backwards to avoid a roundhouse kick from Akane.

“Stop squirming!” Akane shouted as she took a step back and refocused, trying to figure out a new plan of attack that might actually let her land a real blow. If Yoiko wasn't so focused on defense, Akane might have been able to find an opening, she knew plenty of reversals, she just had to goad her opponent into committing to something. “Can't you throw a damn punch?!”

“But if I actually beat you, don't you gotta go out with me?” Yoiko fluttered her eyelashes and brought her hands to her chest in very blatant mockery of Akane's situation. Burning blood flooded Akane's cheeks, and despite her intentions, she went back on the attack. 

Akane let loose a series of rapid fire kicks most fighters would have been overwhelmed by, but Yoiko managed to evade every single one without breaking a sweat. Akane changed tactics, delivered a series of feints before she put all her strength into a single punch, and hoped that would catch the self-trained fighter off guard.

It should have, it looked for all the world like Yoiko wasn't going to react in time and that she'd been forced to block at the last second instead… but she did more than simply weather the blow. Yoiko grabbed Akane's fist and flipped herself into the air, rotating up to do a gratuitous handstand on Akane's outstretched arm, all while smirking like a jerk. Before Akane could react, Yoiko shifted her weight to flip off of Akane's arm like a diving board, landing behind her without a sound. Akane prepared herself to spin around and win this thing, but the girl simply poked her in the back of the head and started laughing.

“I win.” Yoiko said, her eyes sparkling in presumed victory, and that stupidly saccharine smile she wore gave Akane pause even as the burning in her cheeks grew more intense. She couldn't endure it forever though, and Akane reached out to grab Yoiko while she was distracted, pull her into a-

“Akane! Yoiko! We have to go!” Shouted Yuka as she and the others walked past the two, and the moment's distraction let Yoiko slip free of the grapple. 

“Can't you do this after school?” Makoto sighed as she slapped Akane on the back and rolled her eyes. “The martial arts stuff was cool, but this…”

“G- guess we just got carried away, sorry.” Akane said as she hurriedly raced off for class as well, leaving Yoiko behind to catch her breath as Akane and her friends raced past a disappointed and ignored Kuno.

Taiga Hibiki stared at himself in the mirror, giving himself one last once over before his adventure for the day began. His bright and snappy orange business suit was a must—he wanted to look good after all—but he didn't really know what to do with his hair. He would normally keep it straight and professional if he wanted to impress someone, but this little rendezvous didn't call for that. The ruffled bed head look his son preferred probably would have played up just how clearly Ryoga was his son, if he wanted to simplify introductions, but that was too casual… 

With a heavy sigh, Taiga poured out some gel into his hand, gently spiking up his hair like Sachiko always liked. If it was good enough to make her happy, it would probably work on the guy he needed to speak to. 

He didn't really know the first thing about Mr. Saotome besides what Sachiko had said—and only really expected to recognize the man based on how his daughter probably looked like him—but they needed to speak. Taiga had questions only Mr. Saotome could answer, and sitting half crumpled on his nightstand was a handwritten note with the guy's name, the request to call in case they saw ‘Ranma’, a phone number, and an indication that the place on the other end would have been the ‘Tendo Dojo’. 

So with Sachiko out of the house, and Yoiko at school, he'd done what any reasonable person would do in this situation, and called a cab. Assuming that place was close by, he'd be there and back before anyone noticed, and then he'd actually have a better idea about what to do with Yoiko Saotome than his wife did. All he had to do was tie on his headband, grab his keys and wallet, and wait.

And wait just a little bit longer, so the cab would arrive. His pride usually hated taking one of those things unless he absolutely had to, but Sachiko expected him to be back to look after their guest when she got off school, and he wasn't going to disappoint his wife if he could help it. The cab would get him there and back with minimal fuss, and he could at least get under way now that it was pulling up to the curb.

“Where did you need to go, Mr. Hibiki?” The driver asked as Taiga got in the back, and he lamented that he couldn't remember the driver’s name, if they'd met before, or if the taxi company had simply warned him in advance.

“I'm looking to go to a place called the ‘Tendo Dojo’, if you know where that is, if you don't we can probably-”

“You too, huh? Yeah I know where it is, sir.” The driver sighed as he started the cab and started speeding off, leaving Taiga to wait once again. He didn't really know what to make about the driver's comment, but Taiga wasn't going to push him about it. What was important was that the driver knew where to go at all, and Taiga could just relax and brace himself for the upcoming tricky conversation he was going to need to navigate.

The drive was remarkably fast, all things considered. As far as Taiga's watch was concerned, this Tendo Dojo was about a half an hour away by car, which meant Mr. Saotome was dangerously close to them at all times. If he found out they were harboring his kid, they were going to end up in a serious mess, but that just reinforced how important it was that Taiga find his nerve, walk through the front gate, and knock on their door. He needed to know where to send Yoiko as soon as possible.

He took a deep breath to steady himself and started marching down the path, straightening the paisley button up his wife had bought him just to fend off his anxiety. He had this under control, he wasn't even going to lie, he was just going to tell the most important parts of the truth and let Mr. Saotome fill in the blanks. He just needed to look and sound trustworthy, approachable, and casual. To that end he popped up his collar, moved his hand to the door, and knocked as confidently as he could.

He was met with silence for several seconds, and he briefly had to wonder if the taxi driver had messed up and left him at some abandoned or disused property. He wouldn't have minded that too much, though. Honestly considering the size and where it was probably located, part of him wanted to try to make an offer for this place, he was certain that his company could-

“Oh, hello.” Interrupted the voice of a smiling woman, who slid the door open practically without making a sound. He had no idea who she was, but she was far too young to be any kind of Mrs. Saotome, and she definitely wasn't related to Yoiko anyway, so it didn't really matter either way. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

“I’m really sorry to bother you miss, and I apologize if I’m in the wrong place…” Taiga began, awkwardly fumbling with his hands. “I'm from the Hibiki family, and I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Saotome.”

The woman’s soft smile quivered into a scowl only briefly as she fought off the urge to sigh, her shoulders drooping gently. She paused for far too long for Taiga to be comfortable, but right as he felt like he was about to have another door slammed in his face, she nodded.

“Of course. Please, come in.” She said as she turned around, raising the volume of her voice without changing from her kind and docile tone to announce: “Mr. Saotome, another one of your friends is here…”

Taiga followed quietly behind her as she led him past the stairs, around a corner, and into the living room, where a man clad in a white dougi sat napping, clearly uninterested in accomplishing much of anything with his day. Though perhaps that was unfair, there were obvious bags under his eyes, and if this was Mr. Saotome it was possible he’d spent night after night looking for his missing child, hoping each street corner might reunite them… Taiga understood that, he’d had similar hopes when Ryoga first left on his quest for vengeance. “Mr. Saotome, you have a visitor!” 

The woman shook the sleeping man gently before she wandered off further into the house, apparently still having plenty of housework she needed to take care of before the day was out. The man—who was apparently Mr. Saotome, even if his daughter barely resembled him—stirred slowly, groaning and shifting in place before his eyes opened lethargically. He stared at Taiga in a half-aware stupor, clearly still waking up, which put Taiga in the role of getting their interaction started himself.

“Mr. Saotome, you and I need to have a little chat!” Taiga’s voice boomed as he tried to wake the man up, and after only another second of confusion his eyes finally opened wide and he jumped to his feet.

“H- hello, Mr- how did you get in- that is to say…” Mr. Saotome struggled to form words as he slowly backed away from Taiga, apparently still struggling to understand the situation that he was in. “I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry, I know I did some terrible things to you and your family, but you have to know it's hard raising a boy all by myself! L- let's keep things civil, okay?! H- how much do I owe you?! I'm sure I can clear everything up between us, make us even!”

Mr. Saotome looked off down the hallway that probably led to a master bedroom, though whatever he was talking about was largely lost on Taiga. Sure, Mr. Saotome running off had resulted in them losing Ryoga for two years, but that was hardly something Taiga could hold him accountable for. And obviously they'd fed and housed Yoiko a few times, but that hardly could have caused any kind of debt for Mr. Saotome in the face of how many times Yoiko had dragged Ryoga to and from school out of the goodness of her heart. 

“This isn't about money, Mr. Saotome.” Taiga said, trying to reassure the man. He had no idea why Mr. Saotome would think there was bad blood between them, and that unknown was only cranking up his anxiety and making the room feel obnoxiously warm. Nervously, Taiga pushed his sleeves up slightly and rolled his neck, just to try to calm himself down while he waited for Mr. Saotome to say something.

Unfortunately, Mr. Saotome didn't respond so much as emit a terrible garbled sound as he flattened himself against the wall. His hands twitched as he continued considering what to do, and despite Taiga's peaceful intentions, he found himself preparing to defend himself from the martial artist. His line of work could be rough, he'd gotten in fights before, but he had no idea how his self-taught street fighting would fare against an actual martial artist.

“L- let's not be hasty here, sir! I'm sure we don't have to do anything so drastic!” Mr. Saotome said, about to drop to his hands and knees. Taiga couldn't shake the feeling that something had gotten miscommunicated, and took the initiative to wave his hands apologetically between them.

“Mr. Saotome, please, I just want to talk. It's about your kid.” Taiga said, watching Mr. Saotome's eyes widen slightly at the mention of Yoiko. “Your kid is in a lot of trouble, but if we work together, I'm sure we can come to a mutually beneficial understanding.”

“M- my kid?! What have you done to Ranma?! He's just a boy, damn it!” Mr. Saotome shouted, suddenly finding some sort of courage as he marched towards Taiga. He had no idea why Mr. Saotome had been so scared, but it was good to see him confident again, though his insistence that ‘Ranma’ was a ‘boy’ made Taiga involuntarily scowl.

“I haven't done anything, but if we’re not careful my boy might go a little too far.” Taiga admitted, wishing he didn't know Ryoga’s plans. The boy had claimed more than once that was going to ‘kill Ranma’ in the post cards he'd sent over the last month, but Taiga didn't know how serious that was. His son had a… flair for the dramatic, after all. Either way, Taiga's words had the desired effect, bringing Mr. Saotome to a halt directly in front of him, and letting them finally see eye to eye.

“Leave Ranma out of this! Whatever you need to do, do it to me, damn it!” Mr. Saotome’s barely perceptible martial arts aura slowly faded away as his posture went slack and he bowed deferentially. Why he was doing that was beyond Taiga, but he put a hand on the man's shoulder to try to cheer him up anyway.

“Maybe I'm not saying this right. What I need is to help you find your child before it's too late.” Taiga watched as Mr. Saotome blinked loudly and tilted his head in confusion, and Taiga could only sigh. He'd thought he was being perfectly clear, but at least they were finally making progress.

“Y- you need to find Ranma? Need to help me find Ranma? W- what family did you say you were from again?” 

“Hibiki. My wife… left me a note saying you'd asked us to keep an eye out.” Taiga said, choosing his words as carefully as possible to avoid further confusion. “I want to help you, directly. I know our children were friends, but when you moved my son took it a little hard and decided to… chase after you. I worry he might seriously hurt your kid if he finds Ranma before I can talk to him.”

Calling Yoiko by the wrong name felt dirty in Taiga's mouth, but if Mr. Saotome wasn't using it, he had no justifiable reason to know it, and he had to play his cards carefully. If Mr. Saotome learned they were keeping Yoiko away from him on purpose, they were going to be in a mess of trouble.

“Y- you mean you aren’t- I’m not in- Oh.” All of the tension left Mr. Saotome’s muscles, and he slowly started walking away from Taiga, headed out onto the deck. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about that, Mr. Hibiki, my son’s strong enough to protect himself from some-” 

Whatever insult Mr. Saotome was about to make, he thought better of it as he sat down in the sun and produced a game board from just out of sight. The board was already hosting an in-progress game of shogi—which the player seated in Mr. Saotome’s position was very close to losing—but Mr. Saotome rapidly rearranged the pieces to bring it back to a start position. “Why don’t we sit and have that chat anyway, though, just in case we can help each other. Do you play?”

“Not really.” Taiga said, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat down across from Mr. Saotome, staring at his pieces. “I know a little, but if you want a real opponent, you’ll need to challenge my wife.”

“Well I’ll go easy on you then, don’t worry.” Mr. Saotome nervously laughed as he planned his first move, not that Taiga had actually agreed to the game. Playing around wasn’t really why Taiga was here, but he supposed that if he had to sit through a game he would. “Let’s just relax, stop being so intense, and see what we can do for each other.” 

“S- sorry, my boss says he likes the intensity I bring to the job.” Taiga laughed alongside Mr. Saotome, though his opponent didn’t seem to be getting quite the same relief out of it. “In any case, I’m eager to hear if you have any leads.”

“A few, but I’m sorry to say the strongest is still your house, Hibiki. I meant what I told your wife, Ranma took his friendship with your son very seriously, and I’m positive he’ll try to get you to help him out eventually.” Mr. Saotome said, moving his first pawn after some deliberation. Taiga tried not to show just how close Mr. Saotome was to the truth by overthinking anything, and simply moved one of his own pawns at random. 

“Well, I hope for both of our sakes you’re wrong. Ryoga has been stewing on Ranma’s departure for a couple of years now, and it’s very likely they’ll get into a fight if neither of us are there to put a stop to it.” Taiga sighed, fully aware that he was already running that risk. Ryoga was going to come home, see Yoiko, immediately realize she was his old friend, and they’d make a mess of everything. “Then again, maybe Ranma showing up on my doorstep would be for the best. I don’t know if Ranma would go to a relative of some kind, but I’d really prefer not to have that kind of fight happen around an unprepared uncle’s house.”

“The boy doesn’t have any uncles, don’t worry.” Mr. Saotome slapped his knee as the two of them exchanged a rapid series of moves, and Taiga couldn’t help but feel like the joviality was designed to get him to lower his guard.

“Oh, no relatives at all, sir? I’m very sorry, I had no idea.” Taiga watched as Mr. Saotome marched right his pawns into the perfect formation for Taiga to take the first piece.

“Well… I wouldn’t say that, but he doesn’t know them, so I’m not worried about it. He’s never met his aunts, and I’ve taken great pains to ensure he never meets my whack-job in-laws out in Nagoya.” Mr. Saotome’s casual admission of how eager he was to keep Yoiko away from her family was jarring, but Taiga wasn’t going to make assumptions yet. Maybe Mr. Saotome had a good reason. “Even if their training hall wasn’t full of cats, I still know they’d only corrupt the boy somehow.”

Taiga wasn’t really sure why cats were such a big deal, but as he sat there confounded he walked straight into a trap laid by Mr. Saotome and lost his bishop. The other things he’d said about them weren’t especially damning, however, and probably warranted further investigation. Figuring out who Mr. Saotome’s in-laws were wasn’t going to be incredibly difficult if Sachiko worked her magic, and knowing they owned a training hall was going to make it very easy to find them. Heck, that currently made them the ideal place to send little Yoiko. She trained around the house too much to have given up on martial arts, and she really deserved somewhere better to do that than the Hibikis’ quaint little house. 

“Hm. Well, I suppose that rules that out. Do you have any idea what Ranma’s planning right now? Maybe that could narrow our search?” Taiga asked, losing yet another pawn to a terrible move. The sudden success had made Mr. Saotome lean back and grin, and maybe that was for the best, if it made him a little loser with what he said. 

“Not the slightest! Oh, the boy threatened he was going to run back to China as he ran off like a coward… but I know he wouldn’t have the heart. He gets… lonely, and I don’t think he’d survive out in the woods by himself right now, jumping at shadows around a campfire.” Mr. Saotome was oddly happy to be so casually mentioning one of Yoiko’s weaknesses, but Taiga supposed he was probably right in that assessment. Yoiko hadn’t run off, she’d found a place to stay where someone would take care of her. 

Of course she was a lonely girl, she had no family she knew beyond the man who was clearly refusing to acknowledge her for who she was, probably didn’t really have any friends. It was little wonder why she’d tried to pretend like she belonged in Taiga’s house, she needed to belong somewhere. 

That was why Taiga needed to get her with her grandparents.

“I suppose that would make things easier, if you’re right. Have you reported Ranma missing yet? Handed out photos? Hired an investigator?” Taiga asked, hoping the answer to everything would be no. The fewer people trying to find Yoiko, the safer Taiga and Sachiko were. 

“Please, you think the cops will help me? They'll just write him off and forget about it…” Mr. Saotome said, advancing his lance down the board. “Besides, I need to keep this… private. There's a few people in my life who absolutely can't know Ranma’s missing, or we’ll both end up in trouble…”

That explained why Mr. Saotome was so jumpy earlier, though Taiga couldn't really tell who would be trying to find or hurt poor innocent Yoiko. He could only hope those people wouldn't recognize her as long as she was pretending to be his daughter. “Photos are a bust too, any I had were a few years old at this point, and even then the idiot boy destroyed all of them when he threw his fit.”

Mr. Saotome may have considered her actions those of a petulant child, but Taiga understood well enough. While Yoiko probably hadn't been planning to make it harder to track her, she had been freeing her past from the idea of that boy everyone remembered her as. The Surgery had gone so well for her that now that there wasn't physical evidence of who she used to be, Mr. Saotome was just going to look foolish any time he tried to imply she was supposed to be his son.

“That is going to make things difficult, especially since I don't remember Ranma looking terribly distinct.” Taiga said, tapping his chin as he thought back to the slightly taller than average fourteen year old boy, with somewhat long black hair he kept in a ponytail. It really wasn't a lot to go on, and Taiga was immensely thankful for that.

“Believe me, I know. I'm sure he's changed his hair to throw me off, he might not even be wearing those Chinese shirts he liked, but I'll find him. I have to. I can't lose him.” Tears formed at the corner of Mr. Saotome's eyes right as he put Taiga into check. The pain of losing a child wasn't unfamiliar to Taiga, and he did lament what the man was being put through. 

Honestly, all things considered, he just sounded like a worried and distraught parent with a rebellious kid, and Taiga couldn't truly blame him for that. Continuing to hide Yoiko from him was—perhaps—only causing the Saotome family unnecessary suffering…

“We'll reunite you two, I promise… I uh, wish I had any good leads of my own for you.” Taiga said, rubbing his neck. Now that he was sure he was squarely in the wrong, he and Sachiko needed to have a talk, and find a way to covertly get Yoiko back into her dad's company. As long as someone gave him a heartfelt speech about respecting his daughter, he was almost certainly going to come around to being a perfectly fine dad.

“It's disappointing, but just knowing you're out there looking for him is good enough for me. Between you, the people I've got checking to see if Ranma's fallen in with any of the day laborers down in San’ya, and my trip to Shinjuku tonight, I’ve got a good feeling we’ll bring him home soon.” Mr. Saotome's confidence was misplaced but Taiga had to pretend it was reassuring as he slipped his king free and continued the game.

“Does Ranma know people in Shinjuku? I suppose it's worth a look, though I'd be surprised you hadn't checked that sooner, no offense.” Taiga tilted his head as he tried to make sense of the logic, but that was mostly for show.

“No, of course he doesn't! But it's been a few days, and if he's anything like his old man, he’s come into some money!” Mr. Saotome laughed as Taiga blinked in confusion at that line of thinking. 

“You don't mean to say-”

“There's plenty of pretty girls down in Kabukicho, and he's so weak willed! He'll fall right for the first hostess or lady of the night to make a pass at him, I just know it, and that's how I'll catch him.” Mr. Saotome said, strangely confident that his fifteen year old child would be frequenting red light districts. Taiga didn't want to ask if that was behavior Mr. Saotome had already seen, or if he was just speaking from personal experience, he just-

Taiga chuckled along with Mr. Saotome, entirely because he knew that plan would never have worked even if Yoiko wasn't staying with the Hibikis. Yoiko was a girl, and she'd already landed herself a boyfriend, she really didn't have any reason to wander around the city’s nightlife. “At least, that's my hope. There's worse places around there that could suck him in if he's unwise, and I can't let them get their terrible claws into his impressionable little mind.”

“You can't be implying Ranma would join a gang, right?” Taiga asked, mostly to avoid engaging with the idea entirely as he put Mr. Saotome into check. “Ranma's too nice for that.”

“Even worse. Raising the boy by myself, I did what I had to do to survive, and sometimes that meant debasing myself. If the boy remembers that time, if he considers following in my footsteps…” Mr Saotome trailed off, clenching his fist tight before punching the floor with sufficient force that the whole house trembled from his anguish. 

“Ranma is… quite young to turn to a path like that, I'm sure you're overreacting.” Taiga said, putting a hand on Mr. Saotome's side to comfort him. Taiga admittedly didn't know how Mr. Saotome would ever have the looks to turn to that kind of career, but it didn't matter. Yoiko was safe, she was never going to have to do anything like that, whether she stayed in this nice house, or moved in with a relative. Mr. Saotome had struggled so she could thrive.

“The allure of using one's martial talent in Nichome cannot be understated, Hibiki. I tried to resist for many years before I ended up bouncing for a newhalf club.” Mr. Saotome nodded solemnly, shattering all of Taiga's composure. He was scared of that?! Being a bouncer still wasn't the kind of job a half-starved 150 centimeter girl should do, but it was hardly worth all the buildup. 

“Newhalf?” Taiga repeated almost unthinkingly as a thought popped into his mind. Mr. Saotome was familiar with women of alternative origins, and he was still refusing to acknowledge his own daughter? Taiga supposed one didn't have to like or genuinely care for the people one worked around, but it still didn't feel right.

“Yeah, you know, the girls who are actually boys. They take some getting used to, but they can be damn pretty if they try. ‘Course those chests are plastic, but you could say the same for all the other people trying to sell their bodies out there.” Mr. Saotome tapped his forehead for emphasis as Taiga's eyes went wide at the sheer honesty on display. “Oh sure, I've dabbled once or twice, but I know better! If the boy's not careful, I know he'll fall for one of them, ruin his whole life paying off one of those temptresses.”

Taiga's eyes narrowed as Mr. Saotome so candidly spoke about his daughter like that. Did Mr. Saotome not realize the truth? Yoiko, sweet innocent Yoiko, was just like those other girls, she'd simply had the means to get herself changed early. She needed care, compassion, and opportunity to grow, not for her own father to belittle her and people like her, to treat them like some sideshow attraction to dabble in before ignoring them.

“Mr. Saotome, I think-”

“And if the missus catches him worshiping some girly boy before I can stop him?! Both me and the boy's heads would roll. That's why it's so damn important I find him!” Mr. Saotome boldly posed as he placed a bishop onto the board, trapping Taiga in checkmate that Taiga barely had the brainpower to register. He stared at Mr. Saotome, wondering how to even begin defending poor Yoiko from whatever the hell Mr. Saotome's biases and prejudices actually were.

“You have a wife?” Taiga managed to say, trying not to reveal just how appalled he was at Mr. Saotome’s words by guiding the conversation down a much more acceptable path for him to yell about. “You have a wife, and you're dabbling?!”  

Taiga let out a deep breath as he tried to sort through the facts. Mr. Saotome was an unfaithful husband who lost his daughter while trying to trade her for land in a marriage, didn't respect that she actually was a girl at all, and viewed people like her through such a terrible lens that-

His clenching fist dug fingernail marks into the wooden floor, and Taiga knew he had to leave before something bad happened. He'd learned everything he could from Saotome, and he had to admit, Sachiko was right. Whether or not the girl had any worthwhile family, she couldn't be given to anyone who would stick her right back in the company of a man like this.  

“Mr. Saotome, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me, and I think I have a better view of the situation we both find ourselves in.” Taiga said, stiffly walking off so he could see about getting home before Yoiko finished school. “If I find out anything about your son, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”

Ranma’s second school day passed about as easily as the first, and despite his earlier reservations about coming at all, he was finally starting to feel like school was something he could handle. The classwork was still going to take time to adjust to, but he had a bunch of nice friends who were willing to help, and he was certain he was going to catch up to everyone else soon… 

And then his disguise would look more normal. That was just about the only reason he actually cared, obviously, since he probably wasn’t going to be Yoiko much longer. He only had to put up with this business for a month, maybe two, and then he’d have figured out how to pay his debts and get back on his way to China. 

But until then, keeping up appearances was important. He’d already heard people talking about the weird girl from 1-F, and even if he didn’t entirely know what everyone was saying about him, he knew his reputation as a total tomboy was putting him under an unnecessary spotlight. He wasn’t sure how news of Yoiko might make it out to where pops was, but if pops figured out who he actually was and where he was hiding, this whole house of cards could have collapsed around him. 

He’d be outed as a boy who was hanging around girls, probably lose all his friends, develop another stupid reputation as a crossdresser or worse, and then he’d be weirdo Saotome, stuck going to school here under his dad’s watchful gaze, while he was engaged to some lame chick who wasn’t going to be half as interesting as any of his real friends. 

But, he could put off worrying about that until later. The school rumor mill had thankfully stopped fixating on what sport Yoiko and Akane were going to be participating in—or how full contact it would be—around the time the second year girls stumbled onto some lost black pig during gym, and ended up starting a series of fights over who got to keep it that had gotten so out of control they destroyed a storage shed and lost the little piggy in the process. That thankfully left him without anything to do but clean up the classroom, run the gauntlet of Nerima once again, and show back up at home. 

“I'm back!” Ranma called out, only to be greeted by silence. Something felt off in the air the moment he walked into the house and kicked off his shoes, but it took him a few seconds of walking to realize he couldn't hear the TV at all, nor the adults talking. Nobody was snoring in the bedroom, and no chores were getting done. The house was totally empty for the first time since he'd arrived, and he didn't know how to take it.

Shirokuro was still home, following him and wagging her tail as he went upstairs to put his things away, but she only sort of counted. She was good company, but she wasn't going to stop this big empty house from feeling lonely. It wasn't like Ranma really missed Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki or anything, but he couldn't help but worry about them. Sure, them being gone meant he could just put on a tank top and lounge around doing whatever he wanted, but it also created an uncertainty he wasn't comfortable with.

He could have led them to the store, or the bar, or wherever else they'd gone! They didn't have to get lost! Making himself useful to them like that was one of the few things he had to offer them, being the thing that could get them places safely was the only way being their cute daughter actually improved their lives, and she'd screwed that up.

They were scattered to the winds, Mr. Hibiki was probably so clueless he'd be gone until Autumn! Mrs. Hibiki was going to be at least three months! And- and-

He'd taken advantage of their kindness enough, he supposed. He could use that time to get his trip to China in order, and head out before they got back. Heck if he was fast, he'd even be able to walk all the way back, show up again as a whole man before they even found their way home, and then he could apologize to his parents in person and take his punishment like he deserved.

His lip curled downward slightly at the thought, and he hated that he knew why. He had a good thing going here, it might have been some kind of charade or idle fantasy, but he liked it. Having a soft bed and warm meals was growing on him, and sure he was tricking Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki into being nice to him, but damn it, he kind of liked having company other than pops for once. 

He wasn't going to have the heart to leave, not without saying one last family goodbye as little Yoiko. That was fine though, he could still get ready for his trip, clean up the house, use up as much food as he could so it wouldn't go bad, and keep Shirokuro fed until someone else got back. He could still be useful, he still had to be useful. Otherwise they would just thr-

“O- oh, Yoiko, are these your shoes?!” Mr. Hibiki yelled as the door closed behind him downstairs, dragging Ranma out of that pity-filled funk he'd slipped into. “I hope you weren't home alone for long! I guess the errands I had to run got away from me!”

The mere idea of a Hibiki thinking they could just pop out of the house for a couple of errands and still be back on time made Ranma laugh under his breath, but he was still kind of glad for the company, and incredibly impressed Mr. Hibiki had only gotten slightly lost. Ranma admittedly would have preferred Mrs. Hibiki—she was a lot nicer, and he'd had more time to get to know her—but Mr. Hibiki would keep him good enough company tonight, at least as long as Ranma didn't screw up his disguise.

Which meant Ranma had to run down the stairs to wave at his fake dad with a smile on his face, all to keep up the act.

“Welcome back, papa!” Ranma said, fighting the impulse to race forward and hug him again, if only to seem cool and collected. “You don't need to worry about me though, honest. I've been all alone before, haven't I?”

“Sure, Yoiko, but that's no reason to endure it when you don't have to.” Mr. Hibiki said as he hung up his suit jacket on a rack. If Mr. Hibiki wasn't carrying a couple of bags, Ranma might have believed he’d gone to work or something, but as it stood the guy probably just loved that gaudy suit enough to wear it everywhere, even when he was just shopping. “Besides, your mom asked me to be here for you tonight while she's out, and I'm not about to disappoint her!”

Mr. Hibiki laughed as he headed for the living room, and Ranma diligently followed behind him. Ranma wasn't quite sure why he needed to be chaperoned—as a hypothetical Hibiki he'd needed to learn how to look after himself by now already—but he supposed it was sweet to know that Yoiko's parents really did care for her that much, missed her that much. It did make the lie of her entire existence sour in his gut, but he was going to have to deal with that later.

“Mom's not going to be home for a while, huh?” Yoiko asked as she sat down on the couch, letting her eyes follow Mr. Hibiki's haphazard journey across the room as he searched for a good spot to set down whatever he'd bought.

“She said she'd be back after dinner… so I think she'll probably be home by tomorrow, or maybe Friday.” Mr. Hibiki's voice carried a familiar sense of forlorn acceptance that Ranma recognized from how Ryoga usually talked about his family, and Ranma supposed he kind of understood. 

He'd left a lot of people behind in the process of following the path of a wandering martial artist, and each severed connection stung. But at least those were brief, he usually forgot about people eventually, and he couldn't imagine the ache of continually trying to reunite with people he cared about, constantly feeling them slip through his grasp…

Ranma couldn't help but sigh at the revelation. Maybe that was why Ryoga had gotten so depressed when Ranma had needed to tell him that pops had decided they were moving. Ranma just wished they'd had a nicer send off than a fight that didn't even happen…

“Oh. Okay. I guess we can hold down the fort by ourselves while we wait.” Ranma forced himself to grin again, if only to disguise the melancholy he'd just put himself through, as a strange thought hit him about his disguise. “D- do you need me to cook tonight? I know that's usually a daughter's job, if the mom is busy or missing, so…”

“I won't stop you from fixing yourself something to eat while I'm gone, sweetheart, but I wouldn't be a very good dad if I couldn't cook you dinner, would I?” Mr. Hibiki said as he smiled back at her, flashing his massive fangs. “Let me get into something I don't mind getting dirty, and I'll see about making us some food, okay? Just don't… expect me to be half as good as your mother.”

Despite rolling his eyes as Mr. Hibiki rounded the corner, Ranma was going to try to be cautiously optimistic about how dinner tonight would come out. Whatever Mr. Hibiki ended up making, it was almost certainly going to end up better than the slop pops’ cooking always turned out to be. There wasn't a human alive worse in the kitchen than Ranma's old man, and he’d eaten that and survived, so Mr. Hibiki just had to clear the lowest possible bar. Honestly, if tonight consisted entirely of instant noodles, instant miso, and canned fruit from the cabinets, it was still going to be a damn good meal compared to what he'd had to put up with over the last couple of months.

Ranma didn't know why he was surprised that pops didn't pack enough food to get them through the mountain range to Jusenkyo, let alone back, but he wasn't going to forgive his old man for making him hike through all that just to get them cursed!

Before Ranma could ruminate further on the past, Mr. Hibiki rapidly walked past him and headed for the kitchen, clad in an old and worn out Hanshin Tigers t-shirt. Ranma didn't really know why that was his choice of loungewear, but Ranma did have to appreciate the guy's correct choice of baseball team to support. 

“I should probably keep things simple tonight, Yoiko, do you mind if I just make us some gyudon? That way I can put a movie on for us faster!” Mr. Hibiki shouted from the other room, and Ranma nodded reflexively. Meat and rice was a good enough meal, and he wasn't about to be terribly picky.

“Sure, papa!” Ranma called back, settling into the couch. While he'd been kind of excited to keep watching shows with his fake mom, her absence did mean he could branch out and try other stuff before he settled down for the night, fit in a light workout, and went to bed.

Honestly, Ranma was kind of curious what a man like Mr. Hibiki would even choose to put on. He didn't seem like the romantic sort, so if he put something like that on he was just doing it for his daughter's benefit. A comedy or something would have been fine, Ranma didn't mind getting to have a few laughs, and some kind of mystery or horror would have at least been a fun insight into whatever made Mr. Hibiki tick—though Ranma had never really been scared of that kind of thing herself. Now an action movie might have been satisfying, of course, but only if it was one of the really good ones with a lot of martial arts, because Ranma hadn't really gotten to enjoy his normal rough and tumble lifestyle lately, and at least by watching a kung fu flick he might have still been able to learn a new move or something.

While Ranma wasn't really fully aware of when he'd started browsing his family's VHS collection, he was startled out of his task by Mr. Hibiki's rushed footsteps. Turning to face the source of the commotion, Ranma’s eye twitched as he saw the man cupping a sizzling hot beef bowl in each hand—a decision Mr. Hibiki clearly regretted and which was definitely causing him pain. Mr. Hibiki hurriedly deposited the hot bowls of food on the table in front of the couch, raced off to grab them cans of cold cola to drink—which probably also served as ice packs for his hands—and then finally joined Ranma at the case full of movies with a smile on his face.

“Did you pick anything out while I was away?” Mr. Hibiki asked, though Ranma had to shake his head no. He'd spent too long thinking about what his ‘papa’ would choose to decide on anything for himself. “Oh. Well hey, that's alright, why don't we watch one of my old favorites, and you can pick next time, okay?”

That Ranma could agree to, and he left Mr. Hibiki to the difficult task of finding the movie in the stack of tapes, far more eager to dig into his dinner.

Not that he did. Ranma just sat in front of it, staring at it, as she waited for Mr. Hibiki to put the movie in, turn the TV on, and join her. Eating without him wouldn't exactly have been the polite and normal daughter thing to do. 

“So what's this gonna be about?” Ranma asked as he was finally given leave to start eating the honestly decent food—at slow enough rate so as not to risk damaging the family's nice couch. “I don't recognize the name.”

“Have you never seen a ninkyo eiga before? Oh, you're going to be in for a treat, sweetheart.” Mr. Hibiki stopped eating long enough to speak, and the overenthusiastic smile on his face was hard to hide. Whatever these kind of films were, Yoiko's dad apparently loved them, and that was good enough for her. Of course, just because it was good enough for Ranma didn't mean Mr. Hibiki didn't want to tell her anyway. “They’re about real drama, the dilemma that rests in the heart of all men, an honorable and principled man stands outside the law, staring down his obligations and duty on one hand, and what he knows to be right in the other, and he has to-”

“Like one of those Yakuza movies?” Ranma asked, chasing the question with some of his drink, if only so he could go back to devouring his dinner. 

“Y- yes, I suppose they are Yakuza films, but this was back when the organizations had honor, and it wasn't just about the money!” Mr. Hibiki proudly clenched his fist and spoke with authority, but Ranma mostly just rolled his eyes. He'd met plenty of guys on the path who were like that still, it wasn't relegated solely to Meiji era romanticism. 

Heck, as a wandering martial artist without any ties, Ranma was much the same way. What he and pops did wasn't always legal, didn't always fit neatly into what was expected of them, but they had their obligations to uphold, and their passions to follow. Mr. Hibiki might have liked to watch this lifestyle unfold on camera, but Ranma lived it.

Even now, Ranma struggled under these binds. He needed to follow his heart, do the right thing, and get himself cured of his dumb curse, no matter what anyone said, regardless of whether or not pops wanted him to marry some homely girl, and that struggle was the whole reason he'd gotten himself trapped in this other mess! 

This mess. The one where he had to endure sitting here, pretending to be some guy's innocent daughter—even though she barely knew him—all the while trying to figure out how he could repay the Hibiki family's unwarranted and unearned kindness. He fought every day to find chores to do, or to get to take them around town, but he couldn't even do that! Yoiko's dad wouldn’t let the girl cook, Yoiko's mom wouldn't let her clean all the time, and it was starting to feel like he was never going to escape this debt.

But he had to try. Because that was the kind of honorable warrior he was.

“So, that guy's got a sword, do they actually do any…” Ranma mimed sword fighting in the air, staring over at Mr. Hibiki with expectation in his eyes. “In this movie? I don't mind if it's just a drama, but…”

“I suppose I should have known my little martial artist would like that part.” Mr. Hibiki chuckled to himself and gently messed up Ranma's hair as he did so. Ranma didn't know what was with parents and patting him on the head… but he wasn't going to complain too much, it was kind of nice. “There’ll be a few sword fights, though I doubt it's anything compared to what you know how to do.”

“I, uh, don't actually know the first thing about swinging a blade.” Ranma admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. Pops hadn't really let him explore it, and after a certain point it had stopped feeling accidental and started feeling like pops just didn't trust him with anything sharp. It sucked, but Ranma couldn't really do anything about it now. “Everything I know I picked up sneaking into samurai movies… not that I- I mean I didn't have much money, so-”

“Oh, I’ve collected a few of those you might like, too! We should watch them sometime!” Mr. Hibiki’s eyes sparkled in the light as he connected with his daughter, and Ranma just had to smile and accept it. That was far from the worst thing she could have in common with him. Eventually realizing the slight spectacle he was making of himself, Mr. Hibiki coughed and turned back to facing the movie as nonchalantly as he could. “Though if you wanted to live it, have you considered joining your school's kendo club? That's a good place to start, I used to do it when I was your age, you know…”

“Furinkan High doesn't have a kendo club.” Ranma sighed and leaned into the arm of the chair, trying to seem more disappointed than he really needed to be. “At least, not for us girls. The guys have one, but the Captain's a jerk anyway! I wouldn't be in his club, even if he asked!”

“Did he do something to you, sweetheart?!” Mr. Hibiki turned to face her once again, though this time his eyes burned with an obvious rage. Thankfully she knew it was also in defense of his daughter, so it wasn't anything to flinch over.

“N- no papa, not really. Nothing I haven't beaten him up over, at least.” Ranma wasn't sure why he was trying to defend that Kuno jerk from this wrath, but no matter how frustrating it was having Yoiko’s femininity mocked and insulted, Kuno didn't really deserve to have anything bad happen to him over a fake girl. “He just likes to call me ugly, or hideous, or say I'm somehow not a real girl. It's not a big deal, really.”

“He what?” Mr. Hibiki's eyes narrowed with deadly intent, though after a few moments, he relaxed and calmed down. “You said you beat him up though, right? Good. Serves him right. I'm proud of you, sweetheart, don't let anyone try to push you around! If he doesn't learn his lesson, let me know, and I'll take care of it.”

“I- I don't think we need to do anything drastic, dad! He's just rude, that's all.” Ranma sighed and downed the last of his drink, hoping Mr. Hibiki wouldn't actually make good on whatever that threat meant. Kuno was rude, sure, but he didn't really matter. He didn't even warrant a proper rivalry, he was just… frustrating. A pest.

Something that got between Ranma and the girl he actually wanted to spend time going one on one with…

Akane sighed as she sat around the dinner table in her dougi. Another day had come and gone, she'd once again tried and failed to beat Yoiko after their now mutual morning scuffle with the boys, and that had left her with only one thing on her mind as she returned home. For the last two hours Akane hadn't stopped training, replaying Yoiko's crafty moves and sneaky dodges over and over in her head. She wasn't sure if she was getting faster yet, but if she kept training, she knew she'd be able to land a punch on that girl soon, and then they'd actually get into a real fight, and Yoiko would have to be serious for once!

There was the fact that Akane had no idea what she was going to do about the sheer volume of attacks Yoiko could evidently put out in a short span of time, but that was a problem for later. Yoiko didn't look that strong, so Akane could probably just block them, or bait the girl into overextending herself, at which point Akane could pull her into a grapple, slam her against the wall, and-

“Is something wrong with your food, Akane?” Kasumi asked, dragging Akane out of her fantasies of what Friday might bring, and back into the boring reality of Thursday afternoon. 

“Sorry Kasumi, I guess I'm still just training in my head.” Akane admitted, her face still burning from the embarrassment of getting distracted as she started poking at the fish her eldest sister had made, but that just made Nabiki laugh at her and caused their father to sigh.

“Now Akane, I'm very glad to see how seriously you've been taking your commitment to martial arts recently, but there's a time and a place for everything. Please, take a break.” Their dad said as he stared across the table at her, and Akane had to fight the urge to roll her eyes or snap about how he'd been taking a break from seriously training her for the last six years. 

“Why should I? This is for the honor of the Tendo Dojo! I can't let this nothing girl think she's better than us!” That bold declaration was the best compromise her heart could reach, and she hoped he'd understand if she just appealed to his pride, but all he did was laugh at her instead.

“That's the spirit, Akane. I hope that your new little rivalry can be good for the both of you.” 

“So Akane, does that mean you want the engagement?” Nabiki cut in, seizing the opportunity to bring that wound up yet again. “After all, the dojo’s honor is only your problem if you marry Ranma.”

“Like I need some vagabond to tell me how to teach.” Akane sneered, confident as always that she was better than that absentee boy. “I wouldn't dare take him from you anyway, Nabiki. After all, he could still be cute.”

“I didn't know what I was saying Akane! I hadn't met Mr. Saotome yet! I'll tell you what, I'll even sell him to you for only one thousand yen!” Nabiki's attempts to sell Ranma were laughable, if only because they knew next to nothing about him. They had a description and some bragging from Mr. Saotome, but even in the few days she'd known the man, Akane was learning not to rely on anything he said.

“I'm not even convinced that Ranma's real, Nabiki, and I wouldn't pay for a mini Mr. Saotome even if he was.” Akane jabbed her chopsticks in Nabiki's direction aggressively, though it was Kasumi who let out a gentle cough to clear the air.

“Akane, that's hardly fair. Mr. Saotome certainly wouldn't be missing dinner every night searching for a son who wasn't real, would he?” Kasumi gestured to the empty spot at the table where Mr. Saotome did have breakfast, though before her logic could sink in with everyone else, she continued speaking anyway. “I want to hope a nice and upstanding friend of Father’s wouldn't be entertaining certain kinds of guests around here without a good cause, either…”

“Yes, let's not doubt the future of our family now, girls.” Their dad nervously laughed to try to mask just how little he liked when the ‘private investigators’ Mr. Saotome had hired came to visit, but it wasn't going to fool Akane. He had to be worried Mr. Saotome was pulling their leg too, taking advantage of his old friend's spare room while he did whatever scheming was actually going on with the man right now. 

“Well I'm still not marrying him!” Akane said, punctuating her words by draining the entirety of her miso in a single go. “And I'm not letting him take the dojo from me either! I'm not about to let some weakling coward take over our family's legacy! I'll fight him for it, I'll win, and that'll be that!”

“Please, you can't even beat up that new girl at school, what makes you so certain you'll be able to take Ranma in a fight?” Nabiki grinned wide as she leaned towards Akane, half closing her eyes in satisfaction at her own words. “Or are you just using her as your ‘training buddy'? Is that why you two have gotten so close so quickly? It would explain a few of the rumors I've heard about my poor baby sister…”

“Rumors, Akane?” Their dad calmly set down his cup of tea as he waited for an explanation he didn't deserve, and Kasumi had the nerve to join him. There were no rumors! At least, no rumors that meant anything! They were lies and slander, just meant to poke fun at the two most unassailably confident and talented girls on campus! Yes, she did like to spend time near Yoiko, adored sitting next to or chatting with her, but that was normal! They were just good friends with something in common that they couldn't find anywhere else at Furinkan High! 

“They're the same ones as back when I was in middle school, dad, just ignore it. My new rival is kind of pretty, and people are assuming the worst, that's all.” Meeting Yoiko had been a bright spot in Akane's life recently, at least in a vacuum, but she should have known it was just going get corrupted and ruined by all the kids who still liked to insinuate Akane liked girls like a boy would, and now had the audacity to extend those rumors over the new girl. Yoiko was just an idiot! She said one single incredibly stupid thing in the locker room, and left before the wiggly feeling in Akane's gut would let her respond to it, and suddenly there was something between them. 

“I don't know, Akane, I heard she used to get all the ladies at her old school, and that she's putting the moves on you now, too.” Nabiki’s smug insistence was clearly designed to start something, and Akane wanted to believe she wasn’t going to fall for it… but she also felt her chopsticks crack slightly in her grip. 

“She’s my rival!” Akane shouted, hoping a more bold stance on their relationship might shelve any further conversation on the matter. Yes, they were friends, and Akane did want to spend a lot more time with Yoiko, but the rivalry was the important part! It was all based on that drive to improve! To fight, get better, and become something more, together, in unison! “I'm only that close to her so I can figure out how to beat her, put her in her place, and remind her who the top dog of Furinkan is!”

“Oh dear, then she's bringing out your tomboy streak, isn't she?” Kasumi framed her face with her hand, ever worried about Akane's femininity. “Please don't let this girl set you back, Akane, you were finally starting to be…”

An unspoken normal floated over the table, and Akane narrowed her eyes. She wasn't a tomboy! Liking martial arts didn't make her less of a woman! And even if it did, nothing had changed, there was just a newer, bigger tomboy at school! 

“You know, no one's even called me that since she showed up, it's kind of funny!” Akane tried to sound as chipper as possible as she leaned away from the table, honestly hoping her new friend's reputation could work to her advantage for once. “She's such a tomboy she practically talks like a boy! I'm basically a princess by comparison! At least, that's what some of the other girls have been saying…”

“You wouldn't have to worry at all if you had a fiance waiting in the wings, you know. Landing a man before any of your other classmates would go a long way to proving just how much of a woman you are… I'll tell you what, I'll let him go for only eight hundred and fifty yen.” Nabiki insisted, forcing Akane to roll her eyes at the discount Ranma getting slung around. “I'll even gift wrap him for you when he gets here!”

“Some man, Mr. Saotome says he’s two months younger than me!” Akane complained, drumming her fingers on the table as she turned away from her sister. “Keep him, with my blessing. I’ll fall in love on my own and find myself a real martial artist, I don’t need to be engaged to some loser.”  

“N- now Akane, even if you don’t marry him, he will still be your brother-in-law…” Their dad forced out, trying in vain to make Akane feel any amount of pity for the boy he’d tried to force on all of them. “A- and Mr. Saotome assures me that he’s one of the finest martial artists to walk this earth, if that’s what you’re looking for maybe you should consider-”

“Thanks for the food, Kasumi, I really appreciate it!” Akane tilted her head and smiled at her sister, putting on the best happy little sister act she could before she turned around and started to walk off, eager to put any thought of this Ranma person out of her head. “I’ll see you all in a bit, I need to get back to training, so I can beat my actual rival!”

“Why do the rest of us even bother showing up to gym?” Makoto asked as Ranma and his friends walked towards the shoe lockers, the exhaustion of another finished day of school heavy upon her.

Yoiko’s life might have been a little bland and lacking in serious excitement, but Ranma had to admit it was growing on him. He got regular meals he didn’t even have to cook, had plenty of good friends, and even got to sort of fight a little each day! Sure, Yoiko’s mom was still missing, but her dad was managing the house well enough, and he was honestly not that bad of a guy. Ranma needed to amend his complaints from earlier in the week, Ryoga had really lucked out with both of his parents, and as soon as Ranma had to move on from them he was going to be super jealous… 

Some small part of him rankled under the idea of ever leaving, but he knew he had to silence it. Yes, taking advantage of the Hibikis was easy and satisfying, but it wasn’t right. He was going to have to stop all this soon, by the end of the month at the latest, and get back on the road. If he hadn’t paid his debts back by then… he was just going to have to keep sending money or letters back to Yoiko’s parents, whatever it took to keep them happy. 

“Basketball is a team sport!” Sayuri stuck her tongue out at Makoto, causing a small series of laughs to pass through the entire group that Ranma couldn’t help but take part in. “I scored plenty of points, and I set other people up for a bunch, too! You might be willing to let Yoiko do all the work for you, but…”

“Sorry, I guess I just can’t help tryin’ ta do all the work for other people… I promise I ain’t trying to show off or anything!” Ranma smiled awkwardly and shrugged, hoping nobody would take it personally. He was sure the other girls probably did want to play and do their best too, but Ranma had a bad habit of needing to always give it his all , and he apparently couldn’t turn that impulse off even for boring stuff like girls’ basketball. “I’ll try ta back off next time, I swear…”

“And until you do, we’re just going to keep winning. You might be good at one-on-one, but you've got a lot to learn about group activities.” Akane said, squeezing Ranma's arm as she too stuck her tongue out, though she aimed hers directly at him.

“You’re awfully cocky… I've been holdin’ back, ya know. Don't make me really show off!” Ranma replied, trying to fight off his embarrassment at Akane's antics by returning the favor and getting their faces as close as possible without touching. 

“Why don't we save that kind of thing for tomorrow…” Shikako declared, pushing her way between Ranma and Akane as she raced off for her locker. That was all it took to shatter the coherency of their group, and every girl splintered off in a different direction to retrieve their belongings. Ranma didn't feel done, he had other words he wanted to tell Akane, but there was no use worrying about it any further. He popped open his locker, reached in, and grabbed-

Ranma blinked in confusion as his hand brushed against paper and cloth. There, in his shoe locker, was a carefully folded note, sitting atop a furoshiki-wrapped object he also had no recollection of. Without wasting a moment, he pulled out the obvious challenge letter and opened it, more than eager to face down a real fight for the first time in a while.

“To whom I know I could never speak,

The thought of you haunts my waking moments like cold fog stalks the river in winter, yet my dreams of you are more satisfying than any steaming bath.

Your beauty shines through even the darkest clouds and rainiest days, and I long to cherish and enjoy it forever more. I wish I could tell you this in person, that I had the strength to walk up to you as you drank from the fountain, letting the shimmering light reflect through each drop of water that spills over your face, the strength to tell you that I would have liked to know you, in another life.

I wish for many things I cannot have. 

But you should know, even if I must do it from afar, my heart longs for yours.

Until next we speak, Your Secret Admirer .”

This was not, in fact, a challenge letter, and Ranma didn't know how to handle that. He blinked loudly as the note trembled in his hand, still trying to come to terms with what this meant. He had a secret admirer?! She knew she was pretty, but she hadn't expected some boy she'd never even talked to to fall head over heels for her. Consciously, Ranma knew he was supposed to feel kind of gross about being wanted or pined for by a guy, but there was unfortunately something flattering about knowing that Yoiko really was the kind of girl boys fell for… Of course this guy didn't stand a chance of realizing his dream since Ranma wasn't into guys or anything, but the thought was kinda cute. 

Tucking the letter under his arm, Ranma grabbed the pretty floral cloth and unwrapped it, just to see what else had befallen him, and his eyes went wide as he saw a block of chocolate. It was kind of soft and squishy—absolutely handmade—but that was fine by her. She popped the square in her mouth, relishing the experience. The guy who's made this for her had definitely used a little too much cream, and she would have appreciated something to drink with the dry little block of sugar, but Ranma was satisfied either way. He could live with guys thinking he was cute if it got him stuff, he was pretty sure he'd even had another girl show him how to weasel stuff outta guys before, years ago…

So even though he had plenty of money… he kinda wanted to see if he could try to work this kinda magic on purpose, get some free eats from the next cute guy working a register he could find. After all, it would have been a waste not to use his pretty face…

Smirking to himself, Ranma stuffed the cloth in his pocket—just in case he could get it back to the guy who owned it—grabbed his shoes, and closed his locker, ready to continue on his way.

“Hibiki.” Said a girl, startling Ranma and forcing him to drop his shoes on the ground as he recoiled away from her. He absolutely didn't recognize her voice, and the fact that she was taller than him and had her hair in a bob didn't exactly narrow down who she was.

“H- hey, have we met?” Ranma asked, tilting his head as he stepped into his shoes. 

“No, but that's what I'm here to fix. I've heard so much about you since you transferred to Furinkan, I knew I had to speak to you in person.” There was a gleam in the girl's eyes as she stared down at him, and despite the fact that he knew she couldn't actually hurt him, at least one of his gut instincts yelled at him to run. He was going to ignore it though, and instead confidentially lean against his locker to seem in control as he waited for her to continue. “I'm Akane's older sister, but you can call me Nabiki.”

She smiled wide at him as he internalized that fact, and he had to admit he was disappointed. He'd kind of hoped that Akane's big sister would have been more like her, strong, disciplined, something, but Nabiki felt like a perfectly normal girl, except for the way talking to her was still putting him on edge.

“Well I'm Yoiko, but I think you already knew that, upperclassman.” Ranma said, not really sure what the right thing to do in this situation was. She was his friend's sister, but that didn't really mean he knew anything about her, aside from her maybe having issues with gambling? He couldn't really remember. “So… you here ta tell me to stop fightin’ her or something? I haven't hit her! I don't wanna hurt her or nothing, so you can relax.”

“Stop you? Why would I want to take my sister's best rival away from her?” Nabiki was momentarily hurt and wounded by the accusations, though her quick return to smiling told him it was all for effect. “No, I think it's great that you two are so passionate about what you're doing, especially with all the attention you're generating.”

“Attention?” Ranma narrowed his eyes and tapped his head, thinking back to that morning, the previous one, and the one before that, dimly recalling the crowd of people that kept forming around Ranma and Akane's practice sessions. “I mean, I guess I am something of a showman, it's only natural I draw an audience.”

Ranma flicked his head to the side and leaned harder against the locker, hoping the display would appropriately convey just how little he actually cared about having people shout his name in the middle of the fight. It wasn't like he needed to know that people were watching him, struggling to keep up with his supreme speed, obviously they were just getting in the way, and he would have been better off without them…

But as long as they were there, wasn't it right to put on a show for them?

“Exactly, I'm glad you understand, Yoiko! A girl like you has a career ahead of her, a future, as long as you apply yourself correctly.” Nabiki said, and while Ranma supposed she did agree, what Ranma had in mind for his future probably wasn't the same thing as Nabiki. “And I juuuust so happen to think I might be able to help you, all-”

“Pass. I appreciate it, upperclassman, but I can take care of myself. I don't need any help.” Ranma mostly hoped that by cutting her off he could avoid suffering any temptation himself, but he could tell she wasn't going to take his no for an answer, and braced himself accordingly. 

“I'm just trying to help you and Akane with your training, that's all. Don't you want your first real fight to be one to remember?”

“I always fight for real.” Ranma said, tapping his foot, only for Nabiki to roll her eyes.

“And that's why you won't throw a punch? Don't lie to me, Yoiko, you're not very good at it.” Nabiki narrowed her eyes, but Ranma had to try very hard not to laugh. He was incredible at lying. He'd invented Yoiko whole cloth, convinced a family that she was their daughter, and an entire school that she was a normal girl. “It's fine if you need time to think about it, I just wanted to introduce myself today… and maybe sell you a pack of these.”

Nabiki pulled a set of five photos out of her pocket, fanning them in her hand. Akane was front and center on each one, either deadlifting weights, wiping sweat off her brow, striking a training dummy, going through her katas, or jogging down the road. He wasn't really sure why Nabiki thought he wanted these… but he had to admit, Akane had a certain charm to her while she was working out…

“W- why are you showing me these?!” Ranma turned away to try to hide her not-exactly-appropriate blush, though she could tell from the smirk on Nabiki's face that it wasn't exactly working. “Why do you even have those?!”

“Just a little side business…” Nabiki shrugged, limply waving her free hand before she held it out, palm up, like she expected something. “Five hundred yen and the set’s yours! That's much less than I charge the boys, you really should buy now before I wise up.”

“You haven't told me why I need pictures of some dorky chick.” Ranma scowled as he continued trying to disguise just how he felt about what should have been boring photos of a really cute girl doing basic fitness activities. He was supposed to be a girl, he wasn't supposed to like other girls, and if he focused really hard, he was sure he could stop it from being obvious.

“Because she's your rival, genius! All the best fighters keep photos of their rivals around! That way if you ever need any inspiration to keep going, you know all you need to do is just pull these out of your wallet and feel the competitive spirit pouring off of them!” Nabiki's passionate explanation did kind of make sense the more Ranma thought about it. He was pretty sure Ryoga had gotten a hold of a photo of him once, back during their silly bread feud, but he'd definitely tossed it by the time they'd become best pals. Ranma wasn't sure how he felt about having something like that of a girl though, and especially not someone he was already friends with, but- “Fine, twist my arm, I'll settle for three hundred, but any less and you'll be taking the parfait right out of my sister's mouth.”

“Okay, okay, if it gets you ta calm down, I'll take ‘em.” Ranma grumbled, trying not to seem too enthused as he started fishing out a five hundred yen coin from his pocket. He supposed it was okay if he was just buying these for rivalry reasons, and if it really did contribute to his rival having ice cream later, well, some part of him would be satisfied to know he'd helped make that happen. “Here, I don't need the dis-”

Before he could put the coin in Nabiki's hand, she capitalized on his distraction and swiped the love letter he'd been given out from under his arm. She rapidly perused its entire contents before he could snatch it back, and to make matters worse, she had the audacity to laugh at him. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Ain't my fault guys are inta me.”

“You think a guy wrote this, Yoiko?” Nabiki only laughed at him harder, and while that stung it at least hid his earlier blush under a far more explainable wave of embarrassment.

“It's a love note, ain't it? That's how this kinda thing works.” Ranma sighed and rolled the coin between his fingers as he waited for the upperclassman to stop mocking him, take his money, and at least let him leave. 

“Y- yeah? Usually. But this is- you know that-” Nabiki took a very deep breath as she composed herself, and then slowly let it out in a sigh of her own as she brought her hands together in front of her face. “Sure, whatever. Maybe it was a guy, who knows. I could probably find out for you, if you wanted to know, I'm really good at this kind of thing! Only two thousand-”

“I'm alright, thanks. Are you gonna sell me the inspirational photos or not?” Ranma rolled his eyes and cut her off, well past his threshold for dealing with someone trying to sell him things. He didn't care what this girl knew or how she would figure it out, he really didn't need to know who sent the note. He'd gotten it, it was sweet, and it had come with chocolate, that was all that mattered.

“You won't regret it. I'll let you know when I have more.” Nabiki smirked as he finally gave her the money, and as soon as she thrust the photographs into his hand, she immediately took off power walking away from him, leaving him lightly stunned as he tried to process the whole interaction. 

After a few moments of confusion however, he simply shook his head and placed his new possessions inside his old wallet, running off himself. He still had to find his way home before it got dark, and maybe con a guy or two out of something sweet along the way.

Chapter Text

Another tedious day of highschool passed Ukyo by without leaving much of an impact at all—aside from the frustration of Tsubasa still being a pain in the ass anyway—which meant that despite the decently sized pile of homework sitting in Ukyo’s bag, it was instead time for the chef-extraordinaire-in-training to put on an apron, stand behind the counter of the gelato shop for a few hours, and continue tediously learning stuff.

Helping run an ice cream place was super useful! Most of Ukyo's cooking experience was with hot and savory foods, after all, so the challenge of planning how to serve sweets, and preparing the vats of the junk was genuinely a big help! 

It was just also so very incredibly boring compared to slinging okonomiyaki during a dinner rush.

Though, it did come with a few upsides, at least. Free ice cream did make it a lot easier for Ukyo to flirt with girls, and it always provided the perfect capstone to any first date. Which was good, because first dates were all Ukyo could really safely go on, and it was important to leave an impression. At least then it would feel like he had won something.

Sure, most other guys would consider it impressive that he could semi-consistently steal the hearts of maidens—if only for an afternoon—but they didn't understand how much it hurt every time he had to hand one back, or how much he longed for the opportunity to be a real boyfriend to one of those pretty girls. 

But that wasn't exactly going to work as long as he was who he was. Extended contact with a girl was just going to give her more opportunities to figure out his secret, and then it would all be over. He'd get branded an imposter, someone would somehow accuse him of taking advantage of those girls—despite the fact that the same could be said of any other guy—and the reputation he'd been carefully cultivating for the last year and a half would be ruined. Which meant he couldn't be clingy, couldn't get attached, just had to briefly admire every cute chick who passed through his life, and then let her go.

The bell over the parlor’s door rang out as someone pulled it open, forcing Ukyo to actually pay attention to his job yet again. Kids were probably about to start trickling in now that school was out, and that meant he needed to get his game face on.

“Welcome! Let me know if I can get anything for you!” Ukyo called out as a cute girl pushed her way inside the parlor, though he immediately dropped the customer service act as soon as he recognized the lovely lady who had wandered into his web.

Well, the guy who had stumbled into the parlor. “Hey R- Yoichan. You didn't swing by the last couple of days, I was starting to get worried.”

“I don't want ice cream every day, Ucchan. I'm not some kinda girl.” Ranma said, rolling his eyes as he walked up the counter. A brief flash of awareness hit him over the incongruity of the statement with his disguise, and he swiftly looked around the restaurant to see if he'd been overheard, but thankfully they were alone. “Wait, worried? Why would you be worried about me?”

Whether Ranma realized he'd just fluttered his eyes at Ukyo or not, Ukyo had to put up with it all the same, and his cheeks turned red before he could stop them. Ukyo had no idea what was up with Ranma, his stupid disguise, what he actually knew about Ukyo, or if he actually had any feelings for his fiance, and that only made everything so much harder to sort out.

Because of all the girls Ukyo had ever flirted with, Ranma should have known the truth about Ukyo’s circumstances, but he was still treating Ukyo like any other guy. 

Or the jackass was just playing a cruel joke like when they were kids.

Or he was just stupid.

But Ranma was—unfortunately—also really cute when she was stupid.

“Because yer my friend, who I ain't seen in years, and you got a family history of drifting.” Ukyo sighed, trying to clear his head as he answered the question, so he wouldn't be distracted by Ranma's bright blue eyes shimmering behind those big cute glasses. “Besides, yer running some kinda… whatever this Yoiko thing is, even though I offered to take ya in, and it's only a matter of time before you get caught.”

“Relax, Ucchan, my old man taught me all about getting away with stuff. They won't realize what really happened until I'm long gone.” Ranma flashed Ukyo a peace sign, and it was only through incredible force of will that Ukyo didn't chew the bastard out for it. He must not have remembered how they parted, the fact that they were engaged, or that he ran out on Ukyo after less than a day, taking Ukyo's family cart with him.

They were barely seven, though, Ukyo had to remind himself of that. It was Ranma's useless old man that did most of the swindling, the only thing Ranma stole was his heart.

And maybe he could finally take it back, or give it to Ranma all over again.

“Yeah, well ya just better hope that Taiga guy doesn't do anything drastic when he finds out.” Ukyo shuddered and tried to distract himself from that terrible possibility—he was liable to get a hit put out on him too, at this point—by grabbing a waffle cone that he started filling with yet more strawberry ice cream. Yoiko had liked it last time, and it had put a big smile on her face, so he figured she'd appreciate another freebie. “Here, another ‘pretty girl’ special.”

For a moment, Ranma looked like he was about to complain about being called a girl, but he blushed and took the cone all the same. Ukyo still didn't really get how that sex changing magic he was doing worked, and Ukyo really did need to ask if he knew how to make it work in reverse, but… Ukyo could only really justify asking if he knew that Ukyo wasn't quite the man among men he presented himself as.

So for now, he just needed to stay cool and keep talking to his old friend until he had the confidence to mention that kind of thing. “That school still treating ya okay? If my new restaurant ends up being around Nerima, I might hafta transfer up there myself.”

“Yeah, I'm settling in okay. It's still kinda weird bein’ around girls all day though.” Ranma replied, his cheeks only glowing hotter. “I- I mean it ain't like I'm gonna pull anything or nothin’, but I've never even gone to school with ‘em before, and now I gotta change around them! You got no idea how weird that feels.”

Ukyo simply smiled as Ranma turned his attention towards his snack in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Ukyo knew a little better than Ranma thought he did, though he hadn't really gone to school around girls either—at least ever since he left on his quest for vengeance in the middle of elementary school. Changing around other guys was its own kind of struggle, though, and Ranma probably wouldn't understand that. Nobody would notice that she wasn't born a girl if they looked too hard.

“Probably not. Good that ya ain't being a creep, though, I know plenty of guys wouldn't be so reasonable.” Ukyo said, hoping Ranma wouldn’t think he was talking about himself of all people. “You join any clubs? I figured some kinda karate club would call yer name pretty quick, but who knows with you sometimes.” 

Ukyo laughed as he imagined Yoiko trying to do rhythmic gymnastics, flipping around a pole in her cute little leotard. Then again, maybe she'd slip into one of those one-pieces and start swimming. She absolutely had the body for it.

Of course, if she really wanted to keep up her disguise, she probably had to do something drastic, like take up cheerleading. Then when he transferred to Furinkan, he could find the time to join a sports club, she could work her little tail off keeping him inspired, and then once he'd won he could dedicate the victory to her, cup her cheek in his hand in front of the crowd, lean forward and kiss her square on the-

“You okay, Ucchan? Ain't like you to space out like that.” Ranma tilted his head and stared at Ukyo, who very much needed that interruption.

“No, yep, I'm great, absolutely nothing wrong with me.” Ukyo said, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried in vain to remember whatever Ranma had just told him. He was going to need to guess. “Congrats on the swim team thing, I guess.”

“Swim team?” Ranma narrowed his eyes, suddenly staring off like he was considering that as an option for the very first time. “Nah, I ain't interested in that either. I already swam back here from China, I think I've done enough swimming for the year.”

“I'm sorry, did you just say ya swam here from China?!” Ukyo blinked repeatedly, not quite sure whether or not he could take that as a joke. The Saotomes could be unhinged sometimes, but that sounded kind of impossible to him.

“Yeah? I already told you about China, idiot.” Ranma rolled his eyes, having effortlessly dodged—or worse, missed—Ukyo's concern. “I know I'll hafta go back ta get my curse fixed later, but I'm thinking about just stowin’ away on a boat this time.”

“That all sounds really-” Ukyo stopped himself, and instead simply nodded. Ranma heading back to China was a good thing, admittedly. Then Ukyo could insist on tagging along, spend some time on the road alone with his old friend, split a bed just like when they were kids—snuggle up close so Ranma wouldn't get scared of any loud noises—and at the end Ukyo could maybe walk away with a nice curse himself. “Like a pretty good plan. You should lemme know before ya go, it might be fun t’go on vacation with you or something.”

“I dunno, are you sure you wanna go? It's a lot of hiking, and I doubt you'll sell too much okonomiyaki.” Ranma said, very suddenly blushing as he mimed pushing a cart up a mountain. 

“Hey, anything to support a friend, right? I wanna be right by yer side, no matter what, and no matter where ya go, okay sugar?” Ukyo smirked, but that just made Ranma start to sputter as he covered his cheeks with his hands. 

“Don't say that!” Yoiko said, her voice rising steadily in pitch. “I ain't- I'm not gonna- You can't-”

For a moment it looked like the girl was about to bolt upright and run off like he'd said something stupid, been a creep, or she thought he was some kind of freak, but in the end she just buried her face in her school bag until the fire on her face calmed down. He hadn't been intending to flirt with Yoiko or anything, but he supposed he couldn't complain if it was working.

“I can, and I will.” Ukyo continued to try to project confidence, spinning multiple spatulas around in his hand to demonstrate his prowess. “Now that I’ve found you again, I'm not letting ya slip away again. Yer my f-”

He almost let the ‘fiancee’ word slip, and that would have been a tremendous mistake. Both because he remembered Ranma's complaint about being stuck in an entirely different arranged marriage, and… 

Well. How could they have been fiances? This was part of why that jackass needed to make it clear what he knew! The fiancee card only worked if Ranma knew how Ukyo was born! Or… if Ukyo could somehow convince her that Ukyo and his dad had always thought she was a girl. Except Ukyo had already admitted to remembering a boy!

He wanted to grumble or complain about it, but he also knew he needed to finish his thought before Ranma thought he was weird. He took a deep breath, and continued with something normal. “Friend.”

“Was that really that hard ta say?”

“N- no, but we- it's not the right word, is it, Yoichan? Ain't we something closer than mere friends? Ain't our bond deeper than that?” Ukyo smiled down at the pretty girl, only to realize he'd accidentally slipped back into that stupid flirting routine he always did when he was nervous. 

“Oh. So what you're saying is, we’re… rivals.” Ranma tapped his chin after he spoke, still ruminating on the word before he started nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah, we’ve been rivals ever since we were kids! I hadn't even thought about that. Damn, this little ‘Yoiko’ thing is working out great for me, ain't it? I went from having no quality rivals to two!”  

Why exactly Ukyo felt a sudden spike of anger at Ranma's words was beyond him, but he managed to calm himself down. It was probably the idiot mistaking what they had for rivalry, and then conflating that with how she felt about some other guy who didn't deserve her. It didn't matter anyway, since he was the first, and that meant he had more rivalry rights than some upstart guy Yoiko met at school.

“Oh? And just who is this other rival, huh? Is he even any good?” 

“You remember that girl I mentioned, Akane? We’ve been having a lot of practice matches and stuff.” Ranma said, suddenly digging around in his pocket for his wallet. Ukyo nodded in response, which prompted Ranma to pull out a photograph of what was presumably the girl in question—who was apparently in the middle of dramatically kicking a straw dummy—and hand it over to Ukyo for him to look over. 

He didn't know why Ranma would have this, what Yoiko got out of having photos of a rival on hand, but he did have to admit, the girl was pretty cute. If he’d met her before Yoiko, he probably would have taken a pass at her. 

In any case, Ranma only waited a few more seconds before he continued. “That’s a photo of her. I know I said she ain't half as good as me, but half of the world's greatest martial artist is still pretty good! She's decently strong, has nice form, she's really sweet, super pretty, very smart, I enjoy talking with her, and-”

“I get it.” Ukyo hissed as he fought the urge to crush the photo in his hand. The girl clearly wasn't just his type, but Yoiko's too.

And he knew why that pissed him off. “Why do ya have this, anyway? I didn't take ya for the kinda girl to-”

“Guy. I'm a guy.” Ranma whispered, so as to avoid blowing his cover in the still empty restaurant. 

And that was the reminder Ukyo needed. Ranma was wearing this hypothetical twin of his like a wig, but he was supposed to be a guy underneath, and Ukyo knew the words Ranma was leaving unspoken quite well. 

Guys were attracted to girls. Guys weren't attracted to other guys.

Which obviously Ukyo understood. It was one of the most important lessons he'd ever internalized, honestly. It was how he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was one of the guys. 

Ever since he'd been jilted by the first boy he ever fell for, they’d done nothing for him, which only made the attention they heaped on him more and more insufferable as his body developed against his will. However, it had also been an important lesson. Guys were just like that when they had a thing for a girl.

And he knew that first hand now, because he'd felt his heart leap and pound over several by this point in his life, and he always found himself acting much the same. A pretty girl with a sweet voice and a lovely personality could short circuit him effortlessly, just like all the other guys, which was what made being faced with a girl exactly like that right now so hard.

Because she was a guy.

Or, at least, he was supposed to be. Ranma was certainly born a guy, and he clearly still considered himself one, and he was still acting like he had a thing for girls…

But Ukyo also remembered having Yoiko sitting on his lap, the quiet that danced between them as their hearts drummed in unison. He could tell Yoiko had wanted something more from him, then. Desired something from him.

The simple explanation Ukyo had was that Ranma just hadn't figured out how the world worked yet, was too busy dealing with the scheming, planning, or the being cursed thing to truly evaluate whether or not they had a woman's heart beating deep within their core. 

It was a simple answer, but not a satisfying one. It didn't tell Ukyo whether or not he and Ranma really had a shot with each other, it only justified the painful confusion.

However, Ukyo was a man, and that meant he would soldier on anyway. He just had to keep talking to his friend until everything made sense one way or the other. 

“But you are a girl at school, right?” Ukyo continued, raising his eyebrow. “So why would yer new rival hand ya something like this?”

“It's an inspirational photo, it's supposed to remind me to train harder or something.” Ranma said with a shrug. “I dunno, her sister sold ‘em to me.”

“Come on, Ranchan, that's probably the worst lie ya coulda come up with.” Ukyo shook his head from side to side, honestly surprised at Ranma's sudden inability to do the one thing her old man was good at.

“I ain't lying! She really-”

The bell over the door rang once again, silencing the both of them as they very suddenly had company. Ukyo ran back behind the counter and got himself ready to serve more gelato, but he didn't even have time to speak before he realized that it was another false alarm on an otherwise slow day.

“Hey auntie, welcome back!” Ukyo shouted as the thin woman passed through the open door, her eyes already narrowed as she took in Ukyo's brief lapse in dedication to his job. 

“Thanks.” She replied in an unenthused monotone—like she always did when she was irritated or annoyed—as she slowly strolled up to the counter. “Things go okay here while I was gone? Yer working hard, right?”

“Not really.” Ukyo admitted, unwilling to risk even sounding like he was trying to lie to family. He knew it probably wasn't a test or anything, but he liked to stay on his auntie’s good side all the same. “Been slow since I took over. Think I served two customers so far? But it’ll pick up.”

“Figures, weather’s been pretty mild the last few days. I shouldn't be hoping fer a heatwave, but…” Ukyo’s auntie laughed like that was a joke, but Ukyo was busy taking mental notes. He didn't think he'd end up serving ice cream at his place, but he could. It might have been possible to get his family to make him small batches he could sell during the summer, once he had a restaurant, and he appreciated every bit of advice his auntie had on how to sell the stuff. 

“I know I'm looking forward to it!” Ranma piped up, her eyes busy scanning the present flavors of gelato. “Nothing beats spending a couple of hours trainin’ under thirty two degree heat, then treating yourself to a few scoops of the blue soda-y flavored stuff. Speaking of…”

Ranma’s gaze settled on the aforementioned flavor, and then turned to face Ukyo suddenly. She put her hands up under her chin, pulled her arms together just enough to enhance the look of her natural assets under that slightly low cut top, and let her eyes shimmer with an unquenchable need that set Ukyo's heart pounding and throbbing in his chest. “Then again, it tastes good anytime, don't you think, Ucchan? Do you think I could get a scoop of it? I proooomise I'll make it up to you.”

“I- I don't know if that's- I really shouldn't-” Ukyo stammered, barely able to focus as Yoiko fluttered her pretty eyelashes at him. He’d already treated her to something free without all the flirting, so he had no idea what she was trying to pull here…

But damn if he didn’t want to hear her keep trying.

“Do I know ya from somewhere? I feel like yer familiar.” Ukyo's auntie interrupted the moment, staring now at the enthusiastic customer in her store. Yoiko flinched slightly at the question, a new nervous smile spreading across her face as tiny beads of sweat began to form. Yoiko looked like she was about to confess to something, but Ukyo's auntie interrupted the poor girl by snapping suddenly. “Oh, no, yer a Hibiki! Ain't I a fool, I shoulda noticed sooner.”

“Y- yep, that's me, Yoiko Hibiki.” Yoiko said, tilting her head to try to feign being less worried than she was. “It's uh… been a while, Mrs. Kinjo.”

“Has it? I remember yer brother coming in here a lot, but not you… were you with him a couple a times?” Ukyo's auntie folded her arms and tapped her fingers before eventually shrugging. “Ah well, doesn't matter. It's good t'know yer back! What's the hold up, Ukyo? Ain't you gonna get the girl her ice cream?”

“But she hasn't paid yet…” Ukyo grumbled, more to absolve himself of any consequences than because he really cared about collecting Yoiko's money. He stuffed whatever he was holding down into his pockets, produced a set of fresh spatulas, and started carving out a perfectly packed cone for the lucky lady. It was only after he handed it to Yoiko that he realized he'd even kinda shaped the ‘scoop’ on top to look like a heart, but she didn't seem to notice either way.

“We can afford t’be nice. She's a Hibiki, they're good people.” Ukyo's auntie said with a quick nod of her head. “Ya know, I wouldn't have this place if her old man hadn't found me a good deal, oh… I wanna say eight years back?”

“Yeah, my papa’s a pretty great guy!” Yoiko said between licks of her ice cream, and it took Ukyo a second to process just how genuine that was. Ranma wasn't usually antagonistic about his old man when they were kids, but he also never acted like his dad was great either. Yoiko could have just been acting, talking about a man she barely knew like he'd raised her, but Ukyo still couldn't shake the feeling that Yoiko actually liked the guy.

Ukyo liked him too, sorta, but how could he hate a man who'd given Ukyo permission to date his beautiful daughter as soon as they'd met?

“I guess he is. I should probably get t’know him a little bit better. “Ukyo rocked his head to the side as he considered just dropping in unannounced from time to time, exercising his rights as Yoiko's official boyfriend to get to know the whole family of ‘good people.’ 

“And why's that?” Ukyo's auntie asked, and though she put on a simple smile, Ukyo knew she was busy evaluating him and Yoiko, trying to figure out what they were to each other.

And he just had to hope she didn't say anything stupid. She'd been nice enough to take him in and let him live with her, and she barely raised a fuss when he insisted on going to the boys’ high school—though it probably helped that the place had fairly cheap tuition—but she was also still a clueless normal person who had never fully grasped why Ukyo was the way he was. 

It would have been just like her to casually say that Ukyo was her niece, and then explaining that to Yoiko would have been a disaster, especially since unlike Ukyo's school friends who just liked to mock him and thought it was a funny joke, Ranma was liable to remember the past.

Ukyo couldn't let his auntie screw this up. He was going to go on the offensive, and clear everything up before she ever got the chance.

“Well Yoichan is my girlfriend.” Ukyo smirked, cocked his head to the side, and puffed out his chest, all to present himself as the confident boyfriend he knew he was. Yoiko started blushing heavily as soon as he'd made his declaration, but knowing he had that effect on a sweet girl like Yoiko only spurred him ever onward. “We’ve known each other for a while, but things are finally getting serious.”

“I- it's not- I'm not- we- I mean I am- he's very- that's-” Yoiko’s incoherent train of syllables flooded the air as Ukyo's auntie scowled, trying to process what he'd said, and he knew he had to deliver the finishing blow.

“Ya don't need to be shy, Yoiko, it's okay. After all, yer dad did give me permission t’date you!” Ukyo grinned wider at the increasingly embarrassed girl, who slowly and robotically stood up from her chair. “He made me promise ta treat ya right, and I don't intend t’disappoint him!”

“He gave ya what?” Ukyo's auntie asked, though both of them were distracted as Yoiko raced out the door like a bolt of lightning loosed from the heavens.

“Thanks for the food but it's getting late I'll see you some other time it was good talking with you goodbye I hope your day goes well-” Yoiko’s voice trailed off as the door closed behind her and she continued her mad sprint off to who knew where.

“His permission. I didn't even hafta ask for it, either. He just knew I liked his daughter, and set us up.” Ukyo put his hands behind his head and continued grinning even after his girlfriend had left. “I bet he'd even agree ta let me marry her, if I asked.”

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Hibikis are so progressive.” Ukyo's auntie sighed and shook her head, trying in vain to see if he was lying. “I hope you were honest with him. I meant what I said, they're good people, and ya shouldn't abuse their trust.”

“It… hasn't come up yet. I'm not planning on lying or anything, but if it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, right?” Ukyo said, turning away to hide how much he hated the mere idea that he was ‘lying’ about being a man. He was a man. “I think he wants me ta take care of his daughter fer him or something. He said a lot about protecting her, how I had t’make her happy, and then he promised to help me find my own restaurant.”

Ukyo didn't wait for his auntie to question that last bit, instead quickly rifling through his pockets to produce Mr. Hibiki’s business card and show it off for her.

“No kidding…” She muttered under her breath as she looked at it, and Ukyo couldn't help but nod in agreement. “Well… okay. I may not understand what's going on in yer life, I don't really get what yer going through… but I ain't yer mom, either.”

There was a pause as Ukyo's auntie sighed once again, slowly walking around the counter so she could look up into his eyes and pat him on the back before she continued. “If it makes the both a you happy, and as long as it doesn't get us in trouble… I won't make a big deal out of what yer doing. You go be the best onabe fer her you can be, I guess.”

She gave Ukyo one more swift pat on the back and started walking off into the back. Before he could stop her or say anything, the bell attached to the door rang again, and a real customer finally entered. He had a job to do, and he could worry about thanking his auntie for being even a little understanding later.

Dark clouds gathered overhead as Sachiko stared at the street signs that were trying to tell her exactly where she was. She was almost certain she remembered this intersection, and if she was right she was only a few kilometers away from home, and was practically there already.

She'd just thought that a few hours ago, too.

Her pride, unwillingness to sit still outdoors, and gambler’s spirit yelled at her to take a chance and start walking, but the practical part of her had to remind her that she was right next to a bus stop that was going to get her closer to home eventually. Waiting on it would have been safer. But it also could have possibly taken her hours if the bus went the wrong way, even if it would inevitably drop her off at the end of the street her house was on.

Her grumbling stomach also reminded her that she hadn't eaten since she'd had breakfast at the house of a friend this morning, and she could have popped down to the convenience store she could see from here, but then she might have missed the bus, and-

“Mom?!” cried out a sweet voice that could only have been Yoiko, which barely prepared Sachiko for the girl to land directly in front of her with a dramatic flourish. “It is you!”

Sachiko blinked rapidly as she ran the math on where exactly Yoiko had come from, but she supposed Yoiko did mention that she'd had a preference for jumping along rooftops.

“Yoiko, what are you doing here, kiddo? Shouldn't you be in school?” Sachiko asked, not really aware of what time it was, only that she'd been walking for a while. 

“School got over a while ago, mom.” Yoiko replied, though she still had her school bag slung over her shoulder, so it couldn't have finished up too recently. “I was just headin’' home after hanging out with Ucchan, that's all.”

“Oh, I see. I'm so glad you’re friends with such a nice boy. Did you two do anything fun?” Sachiko did her best to innocently look her daughter over, checking for any obvious signs of physical affection that might have gone too far. Thankfully, there wasn't a single hickey visible, so at the very least Yoiko was good at hiding things. 

“I guess? We only really had time ta chat, and for him to get me free ice cream.” Yoiko let out a satisfied laugh, and Sachiko just had to smile and shake her head. Sachiko knew Yoiko could be food motivated, so it wasn't really a surprise that the fastest way for that Ukyo boy to get to her heart was through her stomach.

“Talking to people is still fun, kiddo. You can't always be sure you'll see anyone again, so it's good that you can be satisfied just enjoying his company.” Sachiko said, accidentally trying to impart yet another Hibiki life lesson onto the girl who may not end up actually needing them. She still thought it was good advice, at least.

“Yeah, I guess so. What about you, mom? You've uh.. been gone a while, and I know a couple days isn't that long in this family, but-”

“Oh, I’ve been around. I was just seeing my friends, too!” Sachiko considered laughing, but she ultimately had to fight back a frown. Yoiko had been worried about her, probably did fear the worst, and Sachiko hated making a new child deal with that kind of loss. 

Sachiko was okay at getting around, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be gone more than a week at the most, but even that kind of time would have hurt the poor girl who wasn't used to it. In the end, Sachiko was just going to force herself to smile and regale the girl with a little of what happened. Everything a kid like her needed to hear, at least. “My friends and I went out to this nice little teppanyaki place downtown, then enjoyed a few drinks at our favorite bar, I played some darts, hustled a little pool-”

“You hustle pool?” Yoiko interrupted, tilting her head as she reevaluated some part of Sachiko’s character. Sure it wasn't the most honest thing she could be doing, but she was hardly malicious about it! 

“Just for fun, really, and enough money to cover a round of highballs for me and the girls.” Sachiko limply waved a hand in front of her, hoping she could get Yoiko not to think about it too hard. “I don't need the cash, but I like the challenge.”

Sachiko was completely unprepared for the kiddo’s eyes to start sparkling in the sunlight, and while Sachiko didn't fully understand why that was, she was going to be slightly satisfied that her daughter thought something about that was cool or interesting.

“So you… got lost because you were drunk?” Yoiko asked without a hint of judgment or condescension in her voice, and as nice as that was, Sachiko couldn't help but wonder if that was just because Mr. Saotome did tend to frequent bars too—and more excessively than her, clearly—or if Yoiko was just looking out for her, but she needed to clear things up anyway.

“No kiddo, I just stayed out too late! By the time the party wound down, I knew I wasn't going to make much progress getting home, so I stayed with a friend of mine!” Sachiko said, hoping she wouldn't sound too foolish for not just calling a cab. Unless it was an emergency, her Hibiki pride just wouldn't let her do it, it was a nasty tendency she'd picked up from her husband's family.

“I guess that makes sense. Sorry ya had ta camp out in the middle of a park or something that second night. You know I would have come get you if you called me!” Yoiko put her hands together and let passion burn behind her eyes as she offered her again to be Sachiko's guide. That was something her pride could have tolerated, but she would have first needed to know where she was to call for help, and asking Yoiko to run all the way to somewhere like Setagaya wouldn't have sat well with her, especially if Sachiko ended up being wrong. 

“I know kiddo. It's really alright though, I spent last night with a different friend, too. That's probably my favorite part of getting lost, you know, you end up making friends everywhere you go.” Sachiko laughed as she doled out yet more unnecessary wisdom, but she had to pass it down to her kid, dang it! No one really explained any of this to her when she married into the family, and she wasn't going to force anyone who came after her to figure stuff out on their own! “Either way, it's okay, I'll get home soon, so don't you worry!”

A slow wind passed between the two as Yoiko simply blinked at her in silence. If she was thinking of anything important, her face didn't betray it, and that meant Sachiko just had to get back to doing the math of trying to figure out where she was and how she was getting home.

“Why don't I just take you, mom? I'm headed home too. I ain't cursed anymore, remember?” Yoiko held out her hand and waited for Sachiko to take it, and Sachiko had to fight off the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose as she took her daughter's hand. Of course Yoiko could bring her home, why didn't she think of that?!

“Alright kiddo, if you insist. Lead the way, and why don't you tell me about school today?” Sachiko said as Yoiko started leading the pair off down a street that Sachiko could have sworn she'd just come down herself…

“Well, ya see, me and ‘Kane did our usual fight, then-”

The fact that Yoiko could get around on her own and use that to help out was not one of the reasons why she was starting to grow on Taiga, but he had to admit that it was kind of nice having someone around the house who could run to the store, grab groceries, get the mail, or safely walk Shirokuro. Though perhaps most important of all, he liked the fact that she could bring his wife home. Sachiko probably wouldn't have been gone too much longer if she was close enough to home for Yoiko to bump into her, but it was still a huge help, especially since it meant that Sachiko both made it home before the heavy downpour outside started, and she even had enough time and energy to cook the three of them a much nicer dinner than Taiga could have!

So satisfied, full, and surrounded by family, Taiga barely had a care in the world as Yoiko ran off to bathe, all while his wife sat by his side watching her shows. Everything was calm, happy, orderly, and practically perfect.

Though he probably did need to start heading back to the office tomorrow.

“Did everything go okay while I was gone?” Sachiko whispered, immediately informing Taiga that this was going to be one of those conversations they planned to hide from Yoiko. “I didn't intend on leaving you alone with her for too long, but it looks like you handled it well.”

“Yeah, mostly. She's a good kid.” Taiga replied, not even really sure what he could tell his wife about. “I had to make her stop training and do her homework last night, but I guess that just shows her commitment to that martial arts thing.”

“Oh good. I have to admit, I was kind of worried the kiddo was going to get in trouble somehow.” Sachiko said, leaning against Taiga gently in their quiet moment alone. “Now as long as Mr. Saotome doesn't come back around and put up missing posters for her or anything, I think everything will work out.”

“We’re in luck then, sweetie, because he can't.” Taiga turned to smile at his wife, only for her to already be staring up at him with concern.

“How do you figure that, Taiga?” Sachiko asked, and a shiver passed down his spine. He did probably need to come clean about going behind her back, but it was in good faith! He was more committed to trying to look out for Yoiko than before!

“O- oh, I just talked with the man a little, pretended to be on his side so he'd tell me what he knew…” Taiga started, watching his wife start to glare at him. “And y- you were right! He's not exactly the kind of guy I'd like to know! B- but he told me Yoiko destroyed all the pictures he had of her, and she looks so unlike him, I doubt anyone would ever figure out who she actually is!”

“I see. I guess that is a good thing, but if he's coming around the house more we need to be careful.” Sachiko sighed and shook her head, momentarily calmed, though Taiga probably did need to correct her to avoid feeling guilty.

“W- well I wouldn't say he-”

The almost imperceptible swishing noise of the front door sliding open didn't interrupt Taiga, but the thump of a heavy object clattering onto the floor did. Taiga and Sachiko both stood up from the couch automatically, briefly exchanging glances as they tried to figure out if they'd received some kind of package, or if they were being robbed.

Shirokuro was the first to move, letting out an excited yap as she ran towards the front door, but Taiga and Sachiko weren't far behind her, each prepared to talk down whatever poor fool thought he could successfully rob the Hibiki residence while its occupants were possibly away…

What they weren't prepared for was their son, two years older than they'd lost him, carrying an umbrella as he stepped out of the genkan.

A sudden stillness overtook all three Hibikis. Only Shirokuro remained in motion, circling around Ryoga as he struggled to decide what to do. In the end it was Sachiko who decided to break the stalemate, running towards their son with single minded focus, whereupon she immediately pulled him into an intense hug, even going so far as to pick him up off of the ground. 

“You're back?! Oh, kiddo, I was so worried, you barely write, you never call, don't you ever run away from home on purpose like that again!” Sachiko said, letting out her stream of consciousness fears and worries before she set their son back down.

“I- I wasn't trying to-” Ryoga tried to explain himself, but he faltered as he saw the tears start to form in his mother's eyes, and Taiga had to admit, his were getting a little wet too. 

“I know. But that's still no excuse to let yourself get lost, son.” Taiga said as he approached Ryoga and pulled his son into a swifter, more gentle embrace than his mom had given him. “You've been gone a long time, Ryo, don't you think I wanted to watch you get this tall?”

Taiga reached out to pat his son on the head, if only to remind the boy that he wasn't quite up to his old man’s height, but he would probably get there eventually.

“Have you been eating well, kiddo? You're kind of thin.” Sachiko poked their son in the gut, though it had to just be her being overly doting, since Taiga couldn't see anything off about his son’s weight. “You just missed dinner but I can reheat some curry if you want it!”

“I- I'm okay mom, thanks. I asked a guy for directions earlier, and he even gave me a bunch of kushikatsu from his stall!” Ryoga said, probably talking about Mr. Ariki, who ran the skewer stand over at the markets near their house. “B- but- I-”

Ryoga stumbled over some additional point he wanted to make as he too started to feel the weight of the reunion overwhelm him. Their house had been half empty for two long years, never once able to house the entire family at once. Taiga couldn’t even remember exactly what the last thing he’d said to his son was… and none of it mattered.

What mattered was that the three of them were together, crammed onto the couch, crying about their lost time. 

“It must be fate that brought us together!” Ryoga declared, grinning as he tried to justify just how fortunate it was for all of them to end up here at the same time. 

“That’s right, kiddo. Fate’s finally looking out for us.” Sachi said, intermittently patting their son on the head every time her heart demanded she check to see if this was all really happening. 

“It probably helped that you were finally trying to come back to Tokyo.” Taiga gently chided. Sure it was Ryoga’s lot in life to get lost from time to time, but his desire to not be home certainly didn’t help! “Did you have fun on your little trip?”

“F- fun?! No, dad, I wasn’t going on a vacation.” Ryoga replied, slowly shaking his head. “I was on a mission, a quest, an adventure, I didn’t have time to have fun.”

“Well that’s no good, kiddo. No use traveling abroad if you can’t have fun!” Sachiko tilted her head in concern, though she knew as well as Taiga that it was much too late to try to impress that on Ryoga now. Hopefully he’d learned his lesson either way, and he wasn’t going to try to head back to China for a while. Especially since-

Since Yoiko was here.

That sudden awareness hit Taiga like a brick, and it took all of his might to weather the blow and stand tall despite the reality of his situation. Yoiko was here, she wasn’t even that far away from them! It was always hard to hear stuff from the bathroom, but Taiga couldn’t count on that to keep the situation from changing for very long. She was going to finish her bath soon, exit a room that was plainly visible from the living room, and it was very likely that Ryoga and Yoiko were about to meet.

Ryoga was a smart kid, and Yoiko hadn’t changed too much since they’d left—except for everything The Surgery did to her, of course—so Taiga was still confident that his son would see right through her disguise, but that wasn’t the real issue. The problem wasn’t whether or not Ryoga remembered never having a sister, it was what he did with that information.

He had a grudge against her, he’d written about it in many of his latest letters, and he was undoubtedly going to try to fight her if they didn’t stop him, then Yoiko would realize she’d been found out, run away, get caught by her dad, be forced to pretend to be Ranma again, marry whoever it was Mr. Saotome had arranged her to marry, and-

And Taiga needed to stop thinking and start acting. He had precious few moments to make sure Ryoga did the right thing.

“Yeah, you were chasing after Ranma, right?” Taiga said, reaching behind Ryoga’s back so he could tap Sachi on the neck and make sure she was paying attention to him. “Did you two ever catch up? Settle your differences?”

“Of course not!” Ryoga shouted, once again clenching his fist. Taiga didn’t actually expect any other answer, but it was the only way he could think of to change the topic. “He was a coward before, and he's even more of a coward now!”

“Is that really the only reason you're mad at Ranma, kiddo? Don't you think your friend wanted to stay here, but was dragged off by Mr. Saotome anyway?” Sachiko asked, already catching on. If they could just get him to reconsider or recontextualize why he was mad, it was possible this could all end perfectly.  

“N- no, of course not! He's also a dirty good-for-nothing thief!” Ryoga shouted, and thankfully he wasn't paying attention when Taiga winced. Part of calming Ryoga down was going to need to include not letting him shout, or Yoiko was going to hear. 

“Ryo, there's nothing Ranma could have taken from you that we can't replace.” Taiga said, firmly placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. He hated browbeating his own kid mere minutes after Ryoga had come home, but the situation was delicate, especially since if Yoiko ran off, Ryoga was probably going to follow. “I'm not mad at you, you don't have to make any excuses, but was being away from home for so long really worth whatever Ranma stole?”

There was a long pause as Ryoga turned that thought over in his head, and Taiga could breathe a sigh of relief. They'd established a foothold, got their son to consider if his little rivalry was worth it, and that was going to help them keep up the pressure.

“You don't get it, dad. You wouldn't get it.” Ryoga mumbled under his breath as he stood up from the couch. “B- besides! It's more than that, now! Because of Ranma, I-”

“Kiddo, stop. Your dad and I have something important to tell you.” Sachi said, going for the finishing blow much sooner than Taiga would. But then again, she always was much better at navigating conversations than he was. “Ranma is actually-”

“Hey mom, I used the last of the fruity shampoo!” Shouted Yoiko, interrupting the moment as she stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. “There's still some of the other stuff, but I thought you should-”

Taiga flinched as her shouting drew the attention of not just Sachiko, but also Ryoga, who stared at the interloper in confusion. Even worse, Yoiko finally started paying enough attention to notice him too, their eyes were locked, and Taiga knew he had to act fast.

“Ryoga, you-” Taiga tried to speak, but the girl started moving faster than he could really see, and she'd already tackled Ryoga onto the ground before Taiga could say much of anything at all.

“Bro, you're back! It was so lonely with you gone and now you're back and I missed you so much!” Yoiko pulled Ryoga into his third hug of the day, and Taiga couldn't really tell if her streams of tears were truly real or all part of her rapidly failing disguise. “When did you get back? Are you doing okay? You're so thin, have you been eating enough?!”

Taiga sucked in a deep breath as he silently screamed inside his mind. They were so close to setting both Ryoga and Yoiko up for success, and of course that meant she'd picked the exact wrong time to come out of the bathroom.

“Y- yeah, I just had-” Ryoga began, limply patting Yoiko on the back as he slowly processed the situation. “W- who a- are you exactly?”

“Y- you mean you don't remember me?” Yoiko said, recoiling back and putting her hands over her mouth to hide her shock—or lack thereof. “H- how could you have been gone so long that you'd forget your own sister?!”  

Sachiko and Taiga froze up as Ryoga narrowed his eyes, obviously already well aware that Yoiko had to have been lying. He'd been an only child for years, and kids didn't even start getting lost or disoriented until at least nine or ten, so she couldn't even use that as an excuse for why he never saw her!

Taiga was about to say something in Yoiko's defense, but Shirokuro was the first to act. She politely walked up to Yoiko and leaned against her, practically forcing the girl to start petting her. That was usually a good sign. Shirokuro was a good judge of character, if she liked strangers it was only ever the ones with good hearts, so Ryoga was at least going to know that Yoiko wasn't a bad person… though he had to already know she was his old friend.

“I- I have a sister?” Ryoga asked, turning away from Yoiko so as to face his parents. He was visibly bewildered, and a sudden twinge in Taiga's gut reminded him that his son was only confused because they weren't leaping forward to tell him no.

Their silence itself was a lie.

“Well-” Taiga tried to speak up, but Sachiko shoved him by the shoulder, fighting for her own right to speak.

“I dunno, kiddo, what does it look like?” Sachiko let out a forced laugh, pretending that she was joking as she forced Ryoga to turn back to face Yoiko, made him watch the way she shivered slightly under the scrutiny while her eyes glistened with fear and fresh tears.

“H- hey, don't cry. I'm not mad or anything, I just- I just think you might have the wrong house. I- it's okay, that happens to everybody!” Ryoga reached out and patted Yoiko's head gently, all the while slowly humming to himself as the cogs in his head turned. “I- I mean I- I guess you do look familiar, but…”

“But you still don't remember me? I shouldn't be surprised.” Yoiko said, puffing out her cheeks in half-hearted irritation. “You're hardly ever home anymore, why wouldn't you forget your twin sister?!”

Whether her tears were real before or not, they became decidedly fake as she started openly bawling in front of Ryoga, trying to emotionally browbeat him far harder than he deserved. Taiga understood that her disguise had put her in a difficult place, and she apparently hadn't realized everyone in the room was just humoring her, but he wished she could have dropped the act and just been honest.

“Yoiko, you just need to give Ryoga a second. Coming home after you’ve been gone a while can be disorienting, you know that.” Sachiko said, politely trying to guide Yoiko into turning off the waterworks, while also reassuring Ryoga that Yoiko had to belong here, since Sachiko was willing to talk to her that way, since Yoiko knew how being a Hibiki felt, apparently.

Taiga, for his part, had to fight off a sigh. This was their chance to fix everything, if they played their cards right, get Yoiko’s secret out in the open, convince their son to stop chasing his rival, and finally be honest! But his wife just wanted to keep indulging the little lost girl’s charade…

“N- no, y- yes, uh… Sorry, Y- Yoiko, I just…” Ryoga trailed off slowly as his eyes went wide. For a moment his whole body relaxed as he experienced some kind of revelation, and Taiga found himself subconsciously preparing to pull the two apart if he had to…

But he didn't. Ryoga didn't start throwing punches like he'd sworn to do to Yoiko in his letters, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight, finally reunited with his long lost frie-

“I'm sorry Yoiko, I think I did forget you!” Ryoga shouted over the sounds of some of Yoiko's bones popping. “We must have kept missing each other, I can't remember the last time we even talked, but I'll remember you now! I- I- I hope you can forgive your big brother!”

“Little brother!” Yoiko slowly wriggled one of her hands free so she could jab a finger into his chest as she corrected him. “I was born first, that makes me your big sis!” 

Yoiko used just that one finger to push Ryoga off of her as she turned to face her supposed parents, expecting either of them to support her made up backstory. Taiga admittedly didn't know which of the two was actually older, but he also didn't have time to worry about that!

Was his son really this gullible? Ryoga had to just be playing along. He already knew who Yoiko was, and he knew she was flighty already, somehow.

“But you're smaller than me?” Ryoga tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, causing Yoiko and Taiga both to flinch as they considered what he must have been thinking. 

“Y- yeah? Girls are just smaller than guys! It ain't my fault I'm so damn short!” Yoiko replied, getting far too snippy with her supposed brother for Taiga to feel comfortable… “Ugh, I swear I didn’t get a single centimeter taller, but you just had to keep shooting up!”

Yoiko’s complaints made Taiga roll his eyes, but luckily no one actually noticed. Yoiko had been taller than Ryoga before she left—and taller than she was now for that matter—so it really was a problem of her own making. Then again, she and Ryoga were fond of stupid competitions, and he was pretty sure being slightly taller than Ryoga was one of the few things Yoiko liked to consistently lord over him. 

“Sorry, Yoiko. I didn't think I grew that much since I left for China, but I guess I wasn't paying attention.” Ryoga rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, which distracted him at the perfect moment for him to miss some hint of recognition light up on Yoiko's face.

“Did you say China, bro?” Yoiko tapped her chin as she looked Ryoga over, finally drinking in the rugged and road-worn outfit Ryoga was wearing—and frankly the wool looked far too hot for the weather right now, even if it was raining. She had to have figured out that he'd been gone for a while, Sachiko must have told her, but why was China a surprise? She had to have known he would follow her. “W- what were you doing all the way in China?”

“Didn't you read my letters, Yoiko?” Ryoga stared into Yoiko's eyes, already noticing that discrepancy. No real Hibiki would have foregone reading about his travels, and she should have known that.

“I- I've only just been back for a few days, after my own really long trip… I haven't had the chance…” 

“Oh. I was on a quest for vengeance, Yoiko! As a man, I had no choice but to abandon home, trek across Japan, Korea, and China, all in pursuit of him!” Ryoga raised his fist, shaking it with only half feigned fury as he tried to impress his supposed sister, and Taiga felt his blood pressure spike. This was the exact kind of thing that was going to make Yoiko run off… and he had no idea what to do.

She could fend for herself though, and Mr. Saotome had said he wasn't looking outside of Tokyo. If she did run off for another prefecture, she might have been safe.

If lost and alone.

“H- him?” Yoiko asked, putting the pieces together in her own head. Taiga's hands dug into the fabric of the couch against his will as he braced for the inevitable.

“That wretched, vile, ugly, and miserable coward Ranma Saotome!”  

Taiga's eye twitched.

“W- what were you doing all the way in China?” Ranma asked, doing his best to keep himself emotionally blank, to play the part of the curious little sister, and not betray just how much he was afraid. It had been a lot harder to sell Ryoga on the existence of Yoiko—even his stupid and simple observations were prodding at her seams—and the situation was made all the worse by just how little her parents were supporting her.

A nervous shiver shot down Ranma's spine as he considered, briefly, that they were moments from figuring out the truth. Every new member of the family he had to lie to made even the best of half-truths and blatantly imaginary memories harder and harder to manage. Yoiko’s mom’s fake memories of her daughter weren't going to match Yoiko’s dad’s, and they couldn't possibly have matched Ryoga's, and all it was going to take was for them to ever talk about her to each other for Ranma's disguise to collapse around him.

And yet here he was, asking stupid questions, when he needed to be planning his contingencies. He needed escape routes, to figure out what stuff of Yoiko's could be run off with, how to leave and never come back, or-

Or how to stop it, here. He'd wanted to repay the family’s kindness before he silently left, but that probably wasn't even an option now. Yoiko was too real, and her absence was going to be a gaping bloody wound in a family that knew only absence and loss.

Maybe… it was time for honesty.

“Didn't you read my letters, Yoiko?” Ryoga stated, leaning forward as he analyzed his little sister for weakness… or more likely, was just taking a good look at his new twin sister he'd never met before.

And Ranma didn't really have a good answer for him. Yoiko didn't really have the right to rifle through the Hibiki letter cabinet, so he hadn't even opened it, even if knowing where her dad or brother was would have made Yoiko so much more real!

“I- I've only just been back for a few days, after my own really long trip… I haven't had the chance…” Ranma said, twiddling his fingers as he considered how to go about being honest. Lying was easy, pops had taught him how to do it, and given Ranma plenty of opportunities to have to do it, but honesty wasn't so simple. Especially not when he had to disentangle himself from Yoiko, first, tear her down in front of people who had come to love her.

Hot water would have done the trick though. Maybe he just needed to excuse himself back to the bath while Ryoga was distracted, then he-

“Oh. I was on a quest for vengeance, Yoiko! As a man, I had no choice but to abandon home, trek across Japan, Korea, and China, all in pursuit of him!” Ryoga replied, shaking his fist directly in Ranma's face, so close that he could have punched his older sister by accident with little effort.

Ryoga had been the vengeful sort before, so that made sense—Ranma certainly remembered their bread-feud—but Ranma wished he knew what the guy even needed vengeance for, or from whom! Heck, Ranma would have helped the guy out! They could have fought back to back against whatever martial artist clan or gang had wronged him! 

“H- him?” While Ranma braced for Ryoga’s response, he found himself already latching onto the probable answer. 

Pops. 

Pops had stolen Ranma off, and Ryoga had gotten real pissed off when Ranma had told him they were moving because his old man had gambling debts or whatever. Pops was the only person Ryoga would have had a reason to chase down…

All to bring Ranma home.

Ranma couldn't help but smile. Of course Ryoga cared enough to fight to bring him back. They'd been basically brothers and best friends. They had few other friends, barely had families, and had spent practically a year and half together! 

And right now, Ranma was missing, while the girl named Yoiko sat in his place. Ranma had to fix this.

“That wretched, vile, ugly, and miserable coward Ranma Saotome!” 

Ryoga shot to his feet, his battle aura burning around him as he spoke, and Ranma could do little beyond recoil back from the declaration, his mouth ajar as he let out a simple gasp.

“Kiddo, don't you think that's a little uncalled for?” Mrs. Hibiki said, unexpectedly coming to Ranma’s aid before he could even start to ask himself why Ryoga would say something like that. “You two were such good friends!”

“Were! Until he turned his back on me! Because of Ranma… I've seen Hell!” Ryoga declared, clenching his fists somehow tighter. If he had been carrying anything, it would have snapped by now.

“H- hey, what do you mean, bro?” Ranma asked, his brain running overtime as it tried to check what he could have possibly done to warrant these insults. “Ranma's not a coward! He's a strong, capable guy—and handsome to boot—who was always nice and kind to me, so you must have made a mistake. Maybe-”

“What did you call him?!” Ryoga shouted, ramming his face towards Ranma's with a speed that anyone other than Ranma might have called impossible. 

Regardless, Ranma knew that he needed to not overreact. He needed to stay calm, plead Ranma's case, and talk Ryoga back from… whatever this was. Then he could drop this Yoiko act.

“Strong? Kind?” Ranma offered as he stood up to face Yoiko's brother on more even footing, just in case Ryoga finally saw through his clever disguise.

“I should have known… that bastard Saotome was always trying to trick me!” Ryoga shouted through gritted teeth, though Ranma still couldn't follow whatever train of logic the idiot was riding. “No wonder he never came to pick me up for our fight! He wanted me to get lost, so he could creep in here and seduce my own baby sister!”

“H- hey, that's not true!” Ranma shivered at the mere thought of having to interact with some copy of himself. It didn't matter that Ranma was handsome, fit, and the perfect man, it would have felt weird.

“You've got it all wrong, kiddo, that's not how it happened” Mrs. Hibiki started laughing uproariously at Ryoga's insinuation, slapping her own knee at the joke she'd just been told, all while Ranma had to brace himself. This was it, their conflicting memories were about to collide. “She's just had a crush on him for years, kiddo! It's your own fault for bringing Ranma home all the time, you know she has a thing for martial artists!”

“W- what! No I don't! I don't even like guys!” Ranma snapped back, waving his hands in front of him, but Yoiko's parents just looked at her with confusion and expectation… because of course, they knew better. They'd convinced themselves that their daughter absolutely did have a burgeoning interest in boys…

That was why her mom had bought her a poster of that Bruce Lee knock off…

And why her dad had tried so hard to push her into Ukyo's soothing embrace…

“O- okay, fine. S- sure, I had a c- crush on Ranma once, but it's in the past! I have a boyfriend now!” Yoiko yelled, her cheeks suddenly painfully flush. It was one thing for everyone else to accuse Yoiko of having perfectly normal feelings over a cute boy she was already friends with…

But it was something else entirely for Ranma to admit it outloud himself. Just calling someone his boyfriend felt strange, left an odd taste in his mouth that he nevertheless didn't find unpleasant…

There was a growing satisfaction, even, and-

And he had bigger problems to deal with at the moment!

“Y- yes, son, I think you might want to calm down.” Yoiko's dad said, taking a deep breath as he prepared to push through Ryoga's anger. “Why don't we focus on something more concrete? I know you're mad at Ranma, mad enough to chase the Saotomes overseas, but you're home now. Whatever your grudge is over, I think you should let it go.”

Mr. Hibiki met his son’s gaze with a warmth Ranma wasn't used to expecting from a dad, and Ranma couldn't stop hoping that Ryoga would understand what his dad was trying to say. They needed to move past whatever imaginary thing Ryoga thought Ranma had done!

“Let it go? Let it go?! It's too late for that, dad!” Ryoga shouted once again, his voice quivering with frantic energy as he considered saying something more substantial. 

“It's never too late, Ryo. Whatever Ranma did, you're still here, now, with your family, so it can't have been that bad.” Yoiko's dad continued, though his soft spoken words clearly weren't denting Ryoga's zeal.

“Of course it's too late! I spent two years following Ranma across China, and now I-”

“Have a bunch of new friends, all over China?” Yoiko's mom asked, smiling far too sweetly for the situation. 

“N- no mom, I didn't really have many opportunities… I wasn't there to socialize!”

“Come on kiddo, didn't I teach you that you can always make a friend or two anywhere, if you try?” Mrs. Hibiki sighed slightly at Ryoga's apparent inability to remember her lessons, but she kept smiling at him anyway. “I just don't want to imagine that a little stolen bread cost me my son for two years, and that my son spent all that time without any friends…”

“It wasn't about bread!” Ryoga yelled, ignoring his mom’s other point. Honestly though, Ranma was glad he'd pointed that out before their parents got the wrong idea entrenched in their heads. Ranma and Ryoga already settled the bread-feud! “That bastard Ranma made sure I'll never live a normal life ever again! He stole my happiness, my future, everything from me!”

“H- hey, don't you think you're being melodramatic?” Ranma asked, not remotely sure how anything he'd done to the guy could constitute such a crime. “H- how would R- Ranma even do that to you?”

“Because I followed him, up mountains, around temples, until I ended up…” Ryoga trailed off as he turned around and stared at the pair of drinks sitting on the living room table. “Hey, Yoiko, you just got out of the bath, right? Is it still warm?”

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure Mom was gonna use it after me, so I didn't drain it or nothing…” Ranma replied, not fully sure what that had to do with anything…

Though Ranma was starting to have a terrible theory.

“T- then it's g- going to be a lot e- easier if I show you!” Ryoga trembled as he grabbed a mostly full bottle of soda off of the table and held it over his head, hand shaking as he considered pouring it out on himself.

But… he couldn't have meant that he'd followed Ranma to…

Before Ranma could even think the word Jusenkyo, Ryoga finally spilled the chilled beverage over his head, and Ranma had to clasp his hands over his mouth in mock shock over Ryoga's actions, if only so he would seem as surprised as Yoiko's parents.

They all gasped as Ryoga's body began to change, though even a trained martial artist like Ranma barely managed to really see the changes take place. His skin started to darken as wiry hairs began to form along its surface. More eye-catching, however, was the way he rapidly shrank, getting smaller and smaller until his puny form vanished under the pile of clothes he had been wearing.

And then nothing happened.

“B- bro, are you okay?!” Ranma shouted, the first to break the silence as he raced forward to paw through the now discarded outfit. It didn't take long before he located the tiny writhing lump that was now trapped halfway in Ryoga's boxers, and with a little effort Ranma managed to fish out…

A little black pig, or maybe a boar. He could barely make out watermelon stripes on the thing's back, so it had to be wild, young, and…

“Y- you're a pig?!”

The piglet squealed in response and started wriggling, forcing Ranma to drop what had once been his rival. Ryoga squealed a few more times like he was giving a speech to his still stunned parents, before he ran off for the bath.

“He's a pig.” Yoiko's dad said flatly, less as an answer and more because he felt the need to say something.

“A pig.” Her mom agreed without much in the way of emotion.

Ryoga had been to Jusenkyo! He'd chased Ranma all the way there, and picked up a far worse curse than either of the two curses Ranma had experience with. Pops could still at least fight, and Ranma just had to deal with being cute and sexy, but being a tiny black piglet had to have been miserable by comparison…

Enough to steal Ryoga's happiness…

But he still had a future! The curse wasn't insurmountable! Getting it cured probably wasn't going to take more than a month or two, tops, and dealing with it wasn't that difficult! Sure a pig probably had a harder time making boiling water, but Ryoga was tough, he'd manage! And he wouldn't need to manage it alone, either, as long as he had family who cared about him and friends who could look out for the guy!

Though he didn't seem especially willing to let Ranma try to be the latter. It wasn't like this was Ranma's fault, though! The idiot had chased Ranma all on his own, and fallen in by himself! Jerk probably walked straight into a pool without thinking about it, just because he was lost and staring at a map, or-

Thudding footsteps brought Ranma's gaze over to the hallway, where Ryoga was once again human and racing back to the living room.

Naked.

Ranma turned away from Ryoga immediately, tossing his clothes at him in a big wad, just so the idiot could solve a problem he really should have thought about in advance!

“I'm g- glad ta see you’re back to normal, but you could have a- asked me to leave your pants by the door!” Yoiko said, not really sure how shocked she was supposed to be by Ryoga running around naked, so Ranma opted to play up his embarrassment. The two had bathed together before, nothing on display was especially new to him, but that was still her brother, and she didn't need to see it right now!

“S- sorry, I- I always forget that p- part.” Ryoga chuckled to himself as he rapidly redressed. “I- I'm decent.”

“You… turn into a pig.” Their mom repeated, tilting her head as she stared at the both of them. “W- what happened to you, Ryoga?!”

“That's what I've been trying to tell you! It's all Ranma's fault!” Ryoga started, already back to accusing Ranma after the moment’s distraction. “I finally cornered him somewhere in Tibet, and- and- while I was hunting him down, setting my trap, I was attacked by a panda and-”

“A panda?!” Their mom shouted, growling as she stood up from the couch and clenched her own fist in sudden rage that made Ranma flinch, especially since he had to hope she didn't remember him mentioning a panda too. “I swear, the next time we go to a zoo, I'm going to have a talk with those monsters! They can't treat us like dogs!”

“C- calm down, Sachi, they're just bears…” Their dad said, standing so that he could gently place a hand on his wife's shoulder. “What happened next, son? A panda couldn't do this to you.”

“I- I ended up flying over a cliff and I landed in a magic spring! That's when I first turned into a pig! A man who tried to eat me told me it's apparently some place called Jusenkyo, and- and now I'm well and truly cursed! Cold water turns me into a pathetic little farm animal, only hot water fixes it, and it's all Ranma's fault!” Ryoga said, growling to himself as he ground his teeth in frustration, all so he could build up to a crescendo. “I'm going to kill him for doing this to me!”

Ryoga stood proud as he waited for either their still growling mother or silently furious father to agree with his sentiment…

But Ranma couldn't really focus on them or tell what they were thinking.

Because his gut rolled and churned at Ryoga's words. He might as well have been struck, and he had no idea what to do about it. Ryoga had to be exaggerating, overselling his anger, something. There was no way Ranma's best friend could really hold him accountable for this, and he definitely wouldn't be so grim about it.

Ranma's fingers dug into his skin as his mind raced. There was a way out of this. He could run, leave, never see Ryoga ever again-

But that would just leave this wound to fester, and Ryoga had already followed him once. He would have done it again, and probably end up even worse off.

He could tear off the Yoiko disguise right now, reveal his own Jusenkyo curse… but then he'd only have been setting himself up to fight Ryoga to the possible death, and that wasn't going to solve anything, even when he inevitably won… and then Yoiko's parents would be so mad at him for lying like this, for doing this to their son…

And Ryoga deserved their support! Ranma wanted Ryoga's parents to hate the bastard who hurt their kid! At least then someone would be looking out for Ryoga! 

Tears started to form at the corners of Ranma's eyes, but he needed to ignore them, he couldn't pay them any mind. He still needed to fix this, somehow, calm Ryoga down. If he said the right words, convinced his bro that everything was okay, they could run back to China together, get cured, and put all this behind them!

But he couldn't do that as Ranma. Ryoga was an impulsive guy, and Ranma would have only gotten two words out before the fight was on. Ranma couldn't save Ryoga, not yet.

But maybe Yoiko could, if only she knew what to say!

“Son, I'm sure you're joking but you need to be careful when you say things like that.” Mr. Hibiki said, finally breaking the silence as he stared at Ryoga and Ranma. He might even have been staring directly at Ranma, though that had to just be guilt clouding Ranma's perception. “You’re going to scare your mother or your sister talking that way. I know you're angry, I know Ranma hurt you somehow, but you shouldn't talk about killing him.”

“And why not?! It's all his fault I'm this way! It's his fault I'll never live a normal life! I-” 

“Is it, kiddo?” Mrs. Hibiki interrupted her son, already pulling back her anger so she could be the kind and caring mom Yoiko adored. “Unless Ranma sent that panda after you, I don't think it can really be Ranma's fault. Sometimes bad things happen to us, kiddo. The important thing is to keep walking. Don't let this keep you down.”

“Y- yeah, bro! You said magic did this to you, right?” Yoiko said, trying to be that voice of hope Ryoga so clearly needed. “Then there's probably some other kind of magic out there that can fix this!”

“H- huh?” Ryoga stammered out, suddenly faced with people trying to help him move on rather than aid him in wallowing in the muck of his self pity. “I- I mean sure, I'm sure there is, Yoiko! I just can't go looking for it yet! Not while that bastard runs free, thinking he's so smug and-”

“About Ranma, kiddo. I need to tell you something.” Mrs. Hibiki took a deep breath as she organized her thoughts, and Ranma felt his whole body shudder with anticipation. She was either going to say something really good, or really bad, he could feel it. “Mr. Saotome has visited a few times recently. Ranma ran away because of something terrible that Mr. Saotome did, and he has no idea where his kid is. Right now, Ranma's probably lost, alone, and in need of help. Please don't make things any worse for your friend by running off and trying to pick a fight.”

Ranma's eyes went wide as Mrs. Hibiki spoke about him, and it took considerable effort for him to remain still. Sure, that was a perfectly normal thing for her to have said about Ryoga's friend, and it may have been a compelling way to get him to stop and think before running off again, but it didn't sit right. 

Ranma couldn't articulate why. Maybe it was the way her eyes kept almost flicking onto him, the way she sounded more worried about him than she was concerned about his dad’s plight, but…

She wasn't onto Ranma. It was impossible for her to know the truth about who Yoiko was without magic. She was just getting very close, thinking too hard about Ranma while Yoiko was in the room.

And she'd just been convinced that magic was real.

Ranma swallowed and steeled himself. If he was going to make everything better, his disguise had to hold a little longer. She just needed to be Yoiko, her parents’ daughter, a little harder.

Yoiko took a deep breath, focused, and latched onto her brother's arm. She tugged on it to get his attention while looking up at him with the most shimmering tear-filled eyes she could.

“Who cares about Ranma anyway?! You've been gone for so long you forgot about me! I only just got you back, and you're just planning to run off again?!” Yoiko cried, letting tears roll down her cheeks as she chastised her brother with a fervor their parents simply didn't have the willpower for. “What if he's gone?! What if you never find him, and I never get to see my brother again?! Is revenge really worth breaking apart our family?!”

“Y- Yoiko, I- I wasn't going to- he can't have g- gone that far- I'll be b- back before you-”

“Come on, kiddo, you're home now. Can't we just be a family for a little while? I've only got a few years left before you move out for good.” Their mom’s laugh was full of pain that Yoiko understood all too well. Life as a wanderer could be full of loss, moving on, missing important moments, and never seeing people again, and they didn't need to lose each other any faster than they were already going to. “Hey, I know! We’re all here right now, aren't we? I've never been able to get all four of us under the same roof before, so why don't we drop all this worrying and have a family night together? We might not get many more.”

Their mom let her voice get somber so she could tug at Ryoga's heartstrings, and though he had looked poised to yell and shout about something else, it all melted away in an instant. He exhaled for what felt like a full minute, letting out barrels of long held tension and stress as he accepted their mother's words.

“Y- yeah. Okay. I mean I can hunt Ranma down any time… but I guess I can't always see all of you in one place.” Ryoga started laughing nervously to hide the very real sense of loss he was experiencing, now that he was finally thinking about all the time he wasted chasing after Ranma of all people. 

“That's the idea, son. I'll tell you what, why don't you go unpack your things and get comfortable, and I'll go dig out all the omiyage I'd been saving for you and your sister.” Their dad said, shaking Ryoga by the shoulder before he started slowly walking off down the hall, following the signs for his own bedroom. “I promise none of it has gone bad!”

“H- hey, yeah, right. I've got stuff for everyone too, just let me unpack first!” Ryoga called out as he shouldered his backpack and started racing up the stairs towards his room, still following the signs just as much as their father.

“Well, I forgot to grab anything while I was out,” their mom chuckled to herself as she started heading for the kitchen with a bright smile plainly visible on her face. “But I can whip something sweet and tasty up pretty fast. I'll be right out.”

“H- hey, wait up, I didn't get anything either!” Yoiko said, suddenly nervous that she'd forgotten the family tradition of always bringing back way more gifts than was normally expected of a traveler. “I- I can make popcorn, or sandwiches, or grill some meat or-”

“You don't have to, kiddo,” her mom replied, ruffling Yoiko's hair as soon as Yoiko was alongside her. “But I was thinking about putting a movie on, so why don't you go ahead and make that popcorn? Just be careful if you're going to season it, the men of the house don't like much more than salt, I swear.”

“I wasn't going to, relax!” Yoiko grinned up at her mom anyway, grateful for the advice all the same. Yoiko had grown fond of putting whatever onto fresh popcorn, just to see what came out, but this wasn't the right time for a spicy furikake experiment.

Right now, she just needed something she could enjoy with her whole family.

For as long as she could be with them.

Chapter Text

Though he had not been home in years, Ryoga nevertheless managed to navigate the exceedingly simple and straightforward building with well practiced ease. It had been so very long since the last time he'd been able to simply follow a line on the floor towards the place he was going, and every time he looked up his mom’s familiar signage did its very best to remind him exactly where he was and where was going. He grinned as he finished ascending the stairs and rounded the corner into the hallway that housed his bedroom, and the old guest-

Ryoga blinked and shook his head as he double checked the signage. For some reason he'd been certain that they had a mostly unused guest room in the house, which had hosted the occasional wandering family member once or twice but had otherwise sat empty. Yet it was plainly clear according to the signs that it was none other than the room of Yoiko, his precious little baby sister…

He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair and patted the head of Shirokuro—who had seen fit to follow him. No wonder he thought the family had bothered to keep a spare room all these years, it belonged to the sister he almost never saw. He was such an idiot for forgetting about her, for making her feel even more alone than any Hibiki deserved, but he was not going to do that to her again! He was going to make sure he remembered her going forward! 

First things first though, he had to push his way into his old—but recently dusted—room, set down his bag, and start unpacking. He could bother changing out of his wet clothes later, the most important thing he needed to grab right now was all the omiyage he'd bought. He'd been gone longer than he'd originally meant to be, of course, so much of the food he'd bought early into his journey had ended up going bad or needing to be eaten, but the assorted cookies and buttery cakes he'd picked up in Hokkaido a few days ago were still going to be perfect.  

His dad probably wanted something a little manlier of course, like the kaki no tane he'd picked up in Niigata, but he should have at least had enough sweets to satisfy the women of the house. Once he'd grabbed everything he had, it was a simple matter to load it all up in his arms and shuffle out into the hallway, down the stairs, and back towards the living room. 

Once there he did his best to calmly arrange the food on the family table, if only to make the collection of bags all look nice and pretty. It didn't take long for his dad to wander back in as well, his arms similarly loaded down with individual bags of food that Ryoga could only wait in anticipation of. It had been far too long since he'd gotten to spend the night with both his parents and his baby sister, and he was struggling not to vibrate in place as he waited for the girls to return so they could do… whatever it was his mom was planning.

Ryoga and his dad mostly sat in silence as they let time tick by, and as the both of them tapped their fingers together, ran their fingers through their hair, and rubbed their necks, Ryoga couldn't help but feel like there was something his dad needed to get off his chest. Unfortunately, Ryoga had something similar, a nugget of guilt and doubt that he had no idea how to excise other than by talking about it.

“So, about Yoiko…” Ryoga let out a sigh as he tried to figure out exactly how to phrase the question.

“W- what about Y- Yoiko, sport?” His dad replied, twiddling his thumbs as he waited.

“I’m not stupid, so please don't lie to me. I just have to know…” Ryoga took a deep breath and held it as he struggled to find the strength of will to voice his fear. Then, in a flash, he let everything out all at once, not even pausing to breathe. “Do you think Yoiko is mad at me for not coming home I never should have left her here all alone by herself what kind of big brother am I now she hates me and thinks I'm a jerk and she has to know I love her but I had to leave it was important I couldn't let-”

“Woah woah woah, calm down, sport.” Ryoga's dad said, before awkwardly chuckling in response to Ryoga's bared heart. “Your mom and I aren't away that much, and Yoiko was out wandering a lot of that time too. I promise, she really cares about you, and she's very glad to see you.”

Something about the way his dad twitched as he spoke still unsettled Ryoga, but he didn't have much time to ruminate on that, because at that exact moment both Yoiko and their mom walked into the room. Yoiko bore a great big bowl of popcorn for everyone to share, while their mom had decided to make a few drinks. Ryoga didn't know enough about alcohol to guess what exactly his mom had made for his dad and herself, but the kids were each handed a tall glass of milk that was filled with freshly crushed strawberries, alongside heavy cream to make it richer.

Ryoga was a little old for such a childishly sweet drink, but he wasn't going to complain. It had been one of his favorites before he left after all, and he couldn't help but smile.

“I know you two kids have been out wandering for a while, so stop me if you've seen this one before,” Ryoga's mom began as she walked over to the family movie collection. “But I was wondering if you two might want to see Legacy of Rage. It’s one of those martial arts movies you like, Ryoga, so I've been saving it for you… and Yoiko too, of course.”

Ryoga's ears did perk up once his mother mentioned the kind of movie it was, though the name was only passingly familiar to him. He might have heard it in the last few months, but he had absolutely no idea what it actually was, or even who was in it.

“Sounds good to me!” Ryoga replied as his mom nodded and started fiddling with the betamax next to the television.

“Yeah, I didn't get around to seeing it while I was on the road,” Yoiko said as she sat down on the couch, only to have Shirokuro clamber up onto her lap. She didn't seem too mad though, and instead simply let the rambunctious pooch do what it wanted.

Ryoga smiled to himself as he sat next to her and pet Shirokuro, just trying to lose himself in the moment of being with his family. Tomorrow, his hunt for Ranma resumed, but for now, he was going to watch something fun, drink something sweet, and enjoy one of those Ariake Harbour cakes his dad had apparently picked up in Yokohama.

“S- so, Y- Yoiko…” Ryoga started to say as he awkwardly realized that he hadn't gotten her anything, and that he was going to need to shuffle around his collection of gifts so she didn't notice that she was getting stuff meant for their parents. “H- how was your trip? I heard you were gone a while, too…”

“Fine,” Yoiko replied abruptly, only to then fill her mouth with popcorn to remind Ryoga just how little she cared about him. They were only at the start of the movie, nothing actiony had happened yet, they were just watching some kind of shady deal go down! “G- good, actually, considering it's gonna be my last one.”

Ryoga blinked at her rapidfire addition to her statement, and almost missed watching a guy get gunned down. ‘Last one' could have meant a lot of things.

“Y- Yoiko, you can't be a shut-in, it's not good for you.” Ryoga tried to smile as he dispensed his big brotherly wisdom, but from the half-hearted grin on her face, he could tell she didn't really appreciate it.

“Of course she can't be a shut-in, she has school,” their mom said, right before she chugged most of her beverage in one single motion. “You do too, Ryoga, so no quests for vengeance!”

Ryoga froze up halfway through unwrapping one of those cakes his dad had provided, his mind scrambling to understand how he could possibly be expected to go to school! He was too old to feel comfortable going back to middle school.

“I do?” Ryoga asked only for both Yoiko and their dad to sheepishly nod in the affirmative.

“Same school as me, little bro, so I'll be walking you there and back.” Yoiko smirked as she once again implied that he was the smaller sibling, but he had no idea why she couldn't face reality…

But he couldn't complain about it, because he also realized something far worse!

“I can't go to a girl's school!” Ryoga shouted over a mostly banal scene set in some bar, where a weirdo was hitting on the lead’s girlfriend.

“It ain't a girl's school, calm down, you're ruinin’ the movie.” Yoiko rolled her eyes at his outburst, but another flaw in their mother’s plan suddenly became evident.

“S- sure, okay, but how are you going to take me to school? I remember you getting even more lost than me, that's why you were never around during middle school!” Ryoga narrowed his eyes as he hit upon that truth, and the way Yoiko flinched told him everything he needed to know. His baby sister was more clueless than him. Of course that meant he had to go with her anyway, but that was just to make sure she stayed safe.

“I fixed my curse,” Yoiko said before occupying herself by sipping a bit of strawberry milk and then eating a white chocolate cookie. 

“W- what?!” Ryoga demanded, waiting for her to finally elaborate.

“She f- fixed her curse, sport,” their dad said, nodding solemnly in unison with their mom. “She’s been a big help ever since she came home.”

“I- I'm not sure I can fix anyone else's though.” Yoiko let out an awkward chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck, and while Ryoga wanted to argue against how illogical that sounded, his mom and dad had agreed with her.

“O- oh. Sure, I guess that makes sense.” Ryoga laughed as well, especially once he noticed something painfully off about his little sister. “Is that why your fangs went away?”

Ryoga remembered his general disorientation picking up around the time his adult canines grew in, so it only made sense that the… curse was stored in them, or something.

“Uh…” Yoiko suddenly closed her mouth and moved her jaw as she considered what to say.

“W- well…” their mother said, only to start chugging her drink again.

“Don't be silly, Ryoga. Girls just don't get their fangs until they're older,” their dad began, his confident words only making Ryoga more confused. “You know, your grandmother didn't get hers until she was twenty two, and your mom’s came in when she was twenty!”

“Y- yeah bro, didn't you know that?” Yoiko agreed, awkwardly twiddling her thumbs as she waited for him to accept her words.

Ryoga supposed he didn't really know how anything worked, and so he nodded in agreement, if only to make his sister less self-conscious. Not having the same impressive teeth as her big bro and her parents was probably a source of embarrassment for her, and now he looked like a huge jerk for pointing it out!

As much as he wished he had anything to say to reassure her that she was just as much of a Hibiki without them, he just had to sit quietly and enjoy the movie with her instead. The first major action scene was starting, and he wasn't going to talk over that.

“Do you think I could turn into a half-dragon and use my claws to tear straight through a triad exosuit? You know if I focused my ki really hard?” Yoiko asked as she fulfilled her obligation to lead her brother to school. It was a little surreal getting to hold his hand and pull him along behind her again, but Yoiko didn't mind. She'd spent so long wondering if she'd ever see him again, writing letter after letter to him, and she was going to take advantage of every moment they had together.

Though Yoiko really needed to get him to calm down about Ranma, so she could stop acting like his sister and clear things up with him man-to-man.

“What? Like at the end of the movie? That plot point was stupid, I don't even know how Brandon learned how to do that when he'd been stuck in prison!” Ryoga replied, forcing Yoiko to nod her head as she accepted his point.

“Well, maybe it's like a genetic thing?” Yoiko asked as the pair pushed their way through the door of a still-closed soba shop.

“I guess that would make sense.” Ryoga sighed as the pair jumped over a counter and walked into a kitchen, moving past a pair of bewildered workers so they could leap out of the window in the back. “Are you sure this is the way to school, Yoiko? I know you said you don't get lost anymore, and I want to believe you, but-”

“Relax, this is basically a shortcut.” Yoiko flicked her hand dismissively as she and her brother came to a halt next to an intersection. She waited for a few moments, and then jumped once more to get the two of them onto the top of a bus. “I know what I'm doing.”

“R- right, okay,” Ryoga said as he shifted his weight atop the bus. “Anyway, why would you get to turn into the dragon anyway? Aren't you more like Hoi?”

“Why do you say that? Sure the guy kicked like three whole machine guns worth a bullets outta the air, but that's somethin’ I could do right now, if I wanted.” Yoiko put her hands behind her head and puffed out her chest as she tried to prove her superiority, only for the slight shifting of something on her face to answer her question. “Hold on, are you just saying that because I wear glasses?! You ain't calling me four-eyes, are ya?!”

Yoiko took off her glasses, jabbed a finger into her brother's gut and glared. These were just a fashion accessory, she probably didn't need them, but that was no reason for her brother to make fun of her over them! It wasn't her fault some unlicensed street optometrist mistakenly thought she was near-sighted or whatever!

“N- no, it's not that, Yoiko… he's just the- I mean I'd clearly be the protagonist, since I'm your older-”

Ryoga didn't get very far before Yoiko poked her finger at him again, still frustrated with his stupid insistence that he was the eldest! Her birthday was like four months before his, he just didn't know it!

“You ain't older than me.”

Ryoga gulped and nodded in agreement with her point, though she knew any acquiescence on his part was temporary.

“Fine, but I'm still your brother! That means I have to fight the hard battles for you, while you support me.”  Ryoga smiled in some foolish attempt to seem kind or warm or something, but that just made Yoiko’s eyes narrow.

Was Ryoga really trying to imply that Ranma Saotome, the preeminent martial artist of their generation, was so weak that he needed protection? Even through this girl’s body, did Ranma not exude an aura of manly prowess? Could Ryoga truly not see the carefully honed physique of a true fighter that his so-called sister bore?!

“I'm a martial artist too, you know, and I can look after myself!” Ranma insisted as he pushed up the sleeve on his shirt and flexed his arm. “So don't you get any stupid ideas about me bein’ weak or needing to be coddled just because I'm a chick!”

Ryoga took a step back away from Ranma as he considered his “big sister’s” passionate proclamation, and sweat started to form on the back of Ranma's neck as he worried that he might have gone too far. He couldn't pretend Yoiko wasn't a martial artist, he'd made a point of it in front of Yoiko's parents, and he'd already demonstrated her capacity to leap around the world with supernatural ease, but that didn't mean that fact was going to sit easily with Ryoga's made-up memories.

If he imagined his sister as weak, tiny, and in need of protection, there was going to be little Ranma could do to uphold that falsehood. Especially since there was a fifty-fifty chance Ranma had to fight his current rival before school started.

“S- sorry, that's not h- how I meant it, Yoiko…” Ryoga stammered out, thankfully without any anger or malice. Ranma had to count his blessings, move on, and go back to trying to pull the wool over the guy's eyes.

“Well good, little bro, I'd hate for you to get mixed up just because you forgot all about me,” Yoiko said, laying things on as thick as she possibly could. “Now come on, this is our stop.”

The pair soared into the air as they leapt off the moving bus, landing on an apartment building, and then jumped from roof to roof until they were finally at the chiropractic clinic Yoiko had memorized. From there, they just had to turn a little, hop down to the ground, and run straight ahead towards the big clock that was proudly displayed on the front of Furinkan High.

“Speaking of, I might need ta fist fight some people, don't freak out, and don't tell mom,” Yoiko added as they passed through the front gates. She tensed up and prepared to deliver a brutal barrage of kicks to the chest of the first idiot boy to approach her, but nobody paid her any mind. There was no gathered crowd of losers, just a collection of students calmly filing into school. “Or not. Guess they got bored.”

“Who got bored?” Ryoga furrowed his brow and looked around, trying in vain to get used to his surroundings. 

“Just some guys who thought I was pretty, that's all. Me ‘nd my rival musta finally broken enough of their ribs to make ‘em think twice.” Yoiko laughed as Ryoga's eyes narrowed, and she really had to hope he didn't go off half-cocked while trying to get revenge for her or anything. Plenty of guys were gonna think she was hot—she was unattainably beautiful— and that meant even mostly innocent guys were going to look at her with desire from time to time. Those kinda guys really didn't deserve to suffer a full-force punch from Ryoga, especially since Yoiko had first dibs on fighting him!

Well, Ranma did, but Yoiko had to make sure that fight wasn't to the death first. 

“You have a rival? I- I guess that makes sense.” Ryoga took a deep breath and nodded as soon as he realized nobody was actively trying to make a move on her. “Is she… mean to you? She's not trying to steal your boyfriend, is she? Actually, where is he? I need to-”

Yoiko's cheeks turned red right as Ryoga began to speak about that stupid bonus lie she was trapped in, and she pressed her hand over his mouth to shut him up before anyone got any ideas about her. 

“Good morning, Yoiko!” Shouted a voice from behind, and it took Yoiko a few seconds to realize that it belonged to Sayuri, who was walking with the other girls in their friend group, including Akane.

Akane usually got here early, but Yoiko wasn't going to get too fussed about her late arrival.

“O- oh, hey gals!” Yoiko tilted her head and smiled as she tried to seem perfectly innocent.

“Who's this guy? He your boyfriend?” Makoto asked, barely giving Yoiko time to think before she jumped to absurd conclusions.

“Eeeeew, gross!” Yoiko stuck out her tongue and scowled in response, and Ryoga mirrored her as soon as she took her hand off of Ryoga's mouth. “This is my brother!”

“Yeah, can't you see the resemblance?” Ryoga put his arms on his hips and laughed, thankfully unable to see fear flash through Yoiko's face.

She didn't really look like her family, not truly. Whoever Ranma's mom was, she had apparently been gorgeous—pops had probably slept with some hostess and run off with her kid—and while Yoiko's mom was still perfectly pretty in that normal woman kinda way, it was kind of difficult to draw any real parallels between the way the two looked.

And if Ryoga noticed that, this was all about to get very difficult.

“Well…” Shikako started tapping her chin as she began to analyze the pair, and Yoiko knew she had to act quickly. She put her hands on her hips, copied Ryoga's stupid grin, and let herself laugh as well. “Now that you mention it, Makoto does look silly.”

“How was I supposed to know he was going to stop cutting class?!” Makoto demanded, rolling her eyes.

“That's a relief, Makoto had me worried for a moment,” Akane said as she joined in the laughter, though Yoiko wasn't exactly sure what was funny about this to her. “I thought you said your brother was out of town though.”

“Wasn't he supposed to be lost, whatever that means?” Yuka asked, looking Ryoga up and down.

“He just got back.” Yoiko shrugged, not quite sure what else her friends wanted in way of explanation. 

“And I won't be back for long,” Ryoga said as he raised a clenched fist and stared into it pensively. “I can't let that bastard Saotome slip through my fingers again!”

Yoiko held back a sigh as Ryoga proclaimed his feud for everyone to hear, and silently wished he knew how to convince the guy to just let Ranma go.

“Saotome? Where have I heard that name before?” Sayuri tapped her head as she pondered the question, reminding Yoiko that avoiding the idea of Ranma was going to be impossible.

“Do you think he means that boy in our class, the one that's also lost?” Yuka said, briefly facing Akane before she turned to stare at Ryoga. “You don't mean Ranma Saotome, do you?”

Ryoga's eyes went wide immediately, and Yoiko worried that he was about to overreact and hurt someone as he raced forward and grabbed Yuka by the shoulders.

“You know Ranma?! Where is he!? That vile serpent will pay for what he did to me!” Ryoga shouted, thankfully too distracted by his little vendetta to resist Yoiko grabbing him by the arms and physically prying him off of the girl.

“U- uh, h- he's just in our class, like I said.”

“Would be in our class, if he bothered to show up,” Makoto added as she took stock of Ryoga's outburst. “I haven't seen him though. You know the guy?”

“Know him? Know him?! Ranma and I went to middle school together! He was the meanest, cruelest, angriest jerk on campus, a no good street rat who lied, stole, and bullied the other kids, just for fun!” Ryoga declared, once again passionately posing in the middle of the field as Ranma looked on in irritation. “Only I had the strength to put him in his place and keep everyone else safe, and then he ran away like a coward!”

Ranma’s blood burned as he endured the tide of overdramatic insults. Ranma was not a bad guy, he wasn't guilty of half of that crap! He certainly wasn't no damn coward, considering Ryoga was the one who had missed their last fight! He had no idea how Ryoga had forgotten so much about their friendship, but Ranma wasn't going to let this slide! 

“Hey, you can't tell lies about Ranma! I know you're mad at him because you're rivals and all, but he's really sweet, and kind, and caring, and-”

“You have a crush on him?!” Shikako asked, her voice warbling like fragile glass, and Ranma had absolutely no idea why.

“I hope for her sake she doesn't,” Akane muttered, folding her arms and growling to herself in irritation that Ranma equally failed to understand.

“W- what, no! I wish people would stop saying that!” Ranma replied, his eye twitching as he had to watch two of his friends and Ryoga breathe a sigh of relief at his words. Sure, Ranma was a heck of a guy, and if Yoiko could, she would have totally dated a man that sexy, handsome, strong, sensitive, and talented! 

The problem was just that she wasn't real! A- and also that Ranma obviously was just acting out a girl’s mindset and wasn’t actually attracted to guys! “We were just friends when we were kids, that's all. He's really not my type.”

“Oh yeah, I guess he did like to hang around you and your friends from the girls’ school,” Ryoga said, scratching the back of his neck as he somehow managed to seamlessly add Yoiko into Ranma's previous group of friends who were girls. That was good, though. It made her backstory easier to maintain, and the more he thought about Yoiko and Ranma as different people, the less likely he was to notice anything weird, the sucker. “I don't know how you or those girls put up with that jerk, but-”

“Did he steal something from you?” Makoto asked, effortlessly cutting off another passionate condemnation. “Paint me a picture, tell me why he makes you so angry.”

“W- well, yes, he did. The bastard took a lot of things from me! Things I'll never get back, things like-”

“Is this about the bread feud?” Yoiko smiled as she politely tried to cut Ryoga off before he outed himself as having some weird Jusenkyo curse. Whether he was embarrassed about it or not, Yoiko really didn't need people knowing about that kind of thing, just in case anyone got any ideas about her. “You know he paid you back, that's why you started being friends!”

Ryoga's brow furrowed as he processed her statement, and while she knew he was ultimately going to go back to being angry, she had to use this moment to strike. She leaned in close to his ear, and whispered just a few more words. “Do you want to admit to turning into a pig, little bro?”

“Bread feud?” One of the girls said, immediately followed by a couple other ones. It admittedly did sound a little silly, but they didn't know what boys’ schools were like!

“Y- yeah, that's how it started. He'd steal my lunch every day!” Ryoga shook his head slightly in what Yoiko hoped was agreement with her whispered point, though she almost regretted bringing the bread up. It really wasn't that big of a deal! Ranma was just putting into practice the lessons his old man had taught him, and Ryoga always had the money to buy more food anyway. 

“So did you like, start fighting back or something?” Makoto asked, suddenly writing something down into a notebook. “Was it intense?”

“Of course it was. He might be a coward and a criminal, but Ranma was a strong martial artist. I had to train hard just to keep pace with him, and I fought him after school every day just to keep everyone else safe.” Ryoga once again proudly clenched his fists as he relived their many battles, and Ranma had to admit he did kind of miss them. Ryoga was the best challenge Ranma had ever had, and every moment he spent as Yoiko was just getting in the way of his next hot-blooded fight. “It didn't start out that way, but I guess over time he became my- well my- he and I were-”

“Rivals?” Makoto offered, furiously sketching something now.

“Rivals, yeah! We pushed each other harder and harder, fought more and more, every day!” Ryoga exclaimed, only to let out a long sigh as his anger over the situation gave way to what had to be longing. Ranma desperately wanted to hope that the guy missed the good old days, too. “We were practically always together, always training. I couldn't stop thinking about how to beat him, how to show him up, how to-”

“How to kiss him?” Makoto suddenly grinned wickedly as she looked up from her notebook, and Ranma felt his blood go cold.

“Yeah, how to-” Ryoga began to agree, only to furiously shake his head no as he cut himself off. Every single girl started laughing at him, making both his and Ranma's cheeks start to burn bright. “H- hey! No, that's not it!”

Yoiko knew she had to act fast, and so she grabbed her brother by the wrist and started running off.

“Okay, good to see you guys, I gotta get the idiot some gym clothes, see you in class!” Yoiko yelled as she tugged him along behind her. That wasn't how she'd meant to introduce him to her friends! They were usually good people, and she did want her little brother to know them, but she did not need to put up with that embarrassment! She was just going to have to try again later when they weren't being pests.

Akane chewed as fast as she could as she walked back from the student store, eager to rejoin her friends. It didn't matter how many excuses Kasumi made on Mr. Saotome’s behalf, Akane still wanted to throttle him! He could keep late nights if he wanted, he could nap around the house in the worst places, and he could even spread maps out all over the floor of her dojo if he had to, but she drew the line at him drunkenly breaking basically every kitchen appliance they had!

Maybe he had a better excuse than that,—she admittedly hasn't been listening very hard—but the fact remained that Kasumi had been utterly unable to prepare either breakfast or lunch for the family! Apparently things were going to get fixed in time for dinner, but that did little to quiet the grumbling stomach Akane had endured throughout the start of the day. 

Thankfully she was at least able to buy herself a katsu sandwich, but that meant that she'd lost part of her lunch to the act of having to go buy it. Sure, she probably could have begged for a little bit of spare food from everyone, but she always felt weird asking for handouts. She was usually the one helping other people, she liked getting to see the smiles on other people's faces, wanted to know that she'd made their lives better. Akane absolutely did not want to feel like she was stealing anything from any of the girls she knew, and she especially couldn't bring herself to steal the food out of her new best rival’s lunchbox, she wasn't some kind of-

She wasn't like Ranma. Akane didn't know much about him, but from what Ryoga had said, he was a thief who stole from people he considered friends, took advantage of other people’s kindness, and acted without a care for anyone else’s well-being! He was evidently just like his father, and that disgusted her. She was not going to let that manipulative monster take her dojo from her! Akane had no idea how he'd managed to trick a sweet and innocent girl like Yoiko into being his friend, but that didn't matter. Akane was going to be a way better friend for her than Ranma ever was, that was just going to be one more thing she did better than him!

Though her confidence aside, she was starting to worry about her chances of beating him in a fight. Obviously she'd yet to meet a boy she couldn't handle, but Ryoga had made him sound pretty threatening, and implied that the guy barely played by any rules. Akane couldn't just challenge Ranma blindly and expect to win. She needed to keep training, build herself up using Yoiko to push herself even higher, and she had to dig up dirt on her opponent.

She needed to ask Ryoga for help, or at least advice. If he really had fought Ranma before, he was one of the only people with information that she could trust. Mr. Saotome would never have helped her, and so long as Yoiko considered Ranma to be her friend she probably wasn't going to be much help either—and Akane honestly didn't want to ask Yoiko to choose between two different friends who didn't like each other. Akane had been in that position before, and she wouldn't have wished it on anybody.

With a sigh, Akane pushed open the door to the roof, not so she could join her friends, but so she could bug Ryoga. 

“Hey, Ryoga, can we talk?” Akane asked as soon as her eyes settled on the group, her words unfortunately causing an abrupt silence as Shikako had to pause whatever story she was telling. “It's important.”

“O- oh, sure,” Ryoga replied as soon as he swallowed a mouthful of rice. “What's up, Ms… Tendo?”

“I just really need to talk with you, privately,” Akane said as she stood over him, waiting for him to stand up. They'd only recently met, he didn't have much reason to go along with things, but she really didn't want to say this in front of Yoiko. Involuntarily, she found her eyes settling on the girl who undoubtedly had concerns over what noted boy-hated Akane Tendo could possibly want with her little brother, but there wasn't much Akane could offer Yoiko beyond a warm smile and a slight wave to try to diffuse any tension. 

“Ooooooh,” uttered a chorus of other girls, all staring up at her as they tried to figure out what was going on.

“What're you about to ask the new boy?” Sayuri smirked wickedly as if she were implying something. “You only just met him, after all.”

“She had to find a boy she liked eventually,” Shikako laughed, suddenly putting a burning blush on both Akane and Ryoga's faces.

“It's not about him, I need to ask about someone he knows!” Akane yelled and stomped her foot, though it did little to make everyone stop grinning.

“Ah,” Yuka said, though her grin told Akane that she didn't understand at all. “I should have guessed this was going to happen. Good for you.”

Akane puffed out her cheeks in irritation as she grabbed Ryoga by the back of his shirt, hauled him to his feet, and started dragging him off into the stairwell. She had no idea what had gotten into her friends, but she wasn't going to let them waste valuable time she could have been using to strategize.

She didn't need to put too much distance between herself and Yoiko, though. As soon as she had dragged Ryoga down a single flight of stairs she let him go, tried to look friendly, and got herself ready to ask him a few questions.

Unfortunately, he had the gall to speak first.

“I- I do think you're cute, but this is a little sudden, Akane, I mean it's not that I-” Ryoga rubbed the back of his neck as he stumbled through his words, and it was painfully clear the only recourse she had was to shove him slightly, if only to get his attention and make sure he didn't think she was some prize to be tamed.

“Ranma,” Akane hissed, trying to keep her voice low just so nobody would hear that she was resorting to asking for help from a boy. “You know him, right?”

“Y- yeah, I mentioned him earlier today, w- why?” Ryoga tilted his head as he processed her request, and though she was briefly worried that his widening eyes were a sigh that he was about to falsely accuse her of something terrible, he instead leaned forward and continued speaking with frantic energy. “Do you know him?! You know where he is, don't you?! You have to tell me, I'll do anything Ms. Tendo, I'll-”

“No, I don't,” Akane admitted, her voice once again growing dry and cruel as she thought about that balding mystery boy she was going to have to take her legacy back from. “But I want the same thing you do. I need to beat that twerp senseless as soon as he dares to show up at my dojo!”

“Y- you need to fight him?” Ryoga blinked rapidly as he looked her up and down, evaluating her somehow. “D- did he send you a challenge letter? If he did, I'll fight him for you, miss. Don't worry, I can take him.”

“And I can't?!” Akane snapped, glaring up at the idiot boy who admittedly hadn't seen her in action yet. She was more than strong enough to handle some punk! 

“W- well, y- you are a- he is a- I’m not sure even he would-” Ryoga stammered, poking his fingers together as he tried to finish even a single part of that misbegotten sentence. “Why do you need to fight him, anyway? H- he’s not the type to pick on g- girls…”

“Because his damned father talked my idiot dad into getting him engaged to my sister!” Akane groaned as those words passed her lips, her hands balling into fists. “Worse, they want him to inherit my dojo, and I refuse to allow it!”

“O- oh, yeah that makes…” Ryoga trailed off, blinking as he considered something. “Do you know where Mr. Saotome is? M- maybe that could help me find him, and then I could… oh. He ran away from his dad, right? That's why you haven't tried to fight him up yet.”

Ryoga looked off to the side as he continued thinking, which unfortunately meant he wasn't helping her with her problem. Yes, the coward had run away from their fight, and maybe that was a good thing, and maybe it meant that Ranma didn't actually want to take her dojo anyway, but she was still going to need to put him in his place regardless. It was the only way to be sure her dad didn't do anything stupid going forward.

“Exactly, and while I'm sure I can take him—seeing as I'm as strong as your sister—I wanted to ask if you had any advice. I can't let him win.”

“Well, you're going to have to train more, for one thing.” Ryoga let out a single chuckle, and Akane felt her cheeks start to burn even before he elaborated. “I have a hard time winning against Ranma, I know my little sister isn't nearly strong enough to challenge him, so if that's all you’ve got…”

He nodded as he left the end of his point unsaid, and it took considerable effort for Akane not to give him a demonstration of her skills. Honestly, she could barely believe the idea that Ryoga was a better fighter than Yoiko, she was incredibly talented, super fast, obscenely pretty, and when she did hit stuff it tended to go flying. Ryoga just didn't look like he could move half as elegantly, he was more like a stone than a storm…

But maybe that was the point. Yoiko might have needed to compensate for being weaker than him by being faster. Maybe Akane needed to do the same, work on her speed as well as her strength…

Though that would mean asking Mr. Saotome for help. He wasn't going to train her if he knew why she wanted to get better, but if she could lie, claim she just wanted to be a better representative of Anything-Goes and crush her own rival, maybe he would agree…

“So do you have advice or don't you?” Akane asked, shelving that line of thought for now. She was going to get a lot more out of training if she knew what she was going to go up against. 

“W- well, since you're asking, I've always found-” Ryoga’s words were drowned out by a sudden thundering sound that carried up the stairs, and Akane turned around exactly in time to watch Kuno swing his bokken at the poor new kid. 

Akane didn't have enough warning to try to protect him, but Ryoga thankfully managed to dodge out of the way at the last second regardless. The wall behind them cracked, but at least they were both unharmed.

“And just what—pray tell—are you doing, knave?” Kuno asked as he pointed his wooden sword at the confused Ryoga. “Tis bad enough that the fairest Akane Tendo must endure the vile attention of the rabble and fools that make up this school, that she must weather the insult of the rumors about her and that- that- that mannish girlthing, but here you are—ignorant of the laws of this land—trying to force yourself upon her in public?! Hast thou no shame?!”

“H- huh?” Ryoga and Akane both looked at one another and tilted their heads, blindsided by Kuno's outburst. Akane had barely spoken to this new boy, there was no reason anyone should have thought she felt anything for him, especially not when she had his si-

Akane's eyes narrowed as she processed the other part of Kuno's statement. Yes, she'd heard a few girls joke about how Yoiko was some kind of Prince of a woman, that she could only have been a lesbian, but regardless of whether that was true or not, that continued rumor that they were together only made her muscles twitch. She was not attracted to girls, especially not that one, and the fact that people thought otherwise was ridiculous! They were just friends and rivals!

And as Yoiko's friend, Akane couldn't let Kuno keep insulting her.

“Yoiko is not mannish, she's really pretty, which you'd notice if you stopped being such a jerk!” Akane yelled, though she quickly realized it was a pointless defense.

Even if he did listen to her, that just meant he was going to accept that Yoiko was an attractive girl, and that would mean he was going to actively hit on her.

And that thought made Akane's blood boil. At least Akane was used to his attention, Yoiko didn't deserve that!

“H- hey, are you talking about my little sister?!” Ryoga demanded as soon as he realized what was going on. “What did you just call her?!”

“Only what she deserves,” Kuno replied right before he smirked and ran a few fingers through her hair. “No true woman would speak like such a brute, and though she may hath somehow convinced others not to notice, I can see the mark of vile masculinity that she carries upon her. That disgusting pair of gl-” 

Kuno let out a very loud wheeze as Ryoga tackled him, sending the two tumbling down the stairs in a ball of violence. Akane considered stepping in and getting a few punches in herself, but honestly Ryoga seemed to have things well in hand, and she needed to finish her lunch anyway. He looked tough, he was going to be fine.

So Akane simply turned around and started heading up the stairs again, intent on finishing her sandwich before lunch ended.

Yet another utterly boring school day passed Ukyo in a flash, and other than his continued need to avoid certain people he went to class with, he barely had a care in the world. His classwork had been easy, he was certain he'd aced the math test, and the homework he'd been handed wasn't going to take him too long to finish.

Which meant he had almost the whole weekend to himself, with no responsibilities or worries! His auntie and uncle weren't going to make him work, he had no plans, no obligations, he could do whatever he wanted! 

Though, it wasn't like he really had anything to do. He could only hang out with his classmates so often before they got exhausting to deal with, he didn’t have too many hobbies right now, he hadn't gotten the money from his parents yet so he couldn't start looking into getting himself a restaurant, and that left him with nothing.

Well, not totally nothing. Ukyo did have a brand new girlfriend to take care of, and while he still couldn't tell how much Ranma actually saw him as a gallant boyfriend, it was still his responsibility to treat her to a nice date from time to time. Whether she actually saw them as more than just friends or not, he still had to put on a big show about it. It was going to help her keep her cover, and maybe-sorta get her dad to help him out with finding a place.

Obviously her scam was going to end badly once she had to reveal the truth to Mr. Hibiki, and maybe that was going to cause trouble for Ukyo too, but as long as he looked into getting good insurance he could probably still make a profit if the Yakuza torched his place.

Cracking a smile, Ukyo slung his school bag over his pack, and tried to consider where he could take his pretty little girlfriend. The desire was there to show her off, of course, but they probably needed to start small. Ranma liked food, so taking her out for lunch or dinner was probably reasonable, but he still had to avoid letting her destroy his savings. They could have gone to the movies maybe, then while they were in the dark he could hold her tight and see just how comfortable she was in the arms of a man… 

But if that backfired he didn't know how he was going to handle it. Maybe that was too fast.

Taking her to the pool would have been fun—he definitely wanted to see her in a cute swimsuit—but then he would have had to actually find something to wear himself, and risk people noticing anything he didn't cover up well enough. Swimming was a bad idea, no matter how much he missed it, so he was going to need to explore other options. 

Honestly, he wished she was here, right now, that he could hear her sweet and melodic voice, that he could ask her what she wanted, and then he could see her go all starry eyed as he agreed to take her to an amusement park or a-

“Did you really have to get into a fight on your first day?!” shouted a sweet and melodic voice from across the street, which caused Ukyo to snap his head to the side just in time to see Ranma holding hands with a boy as she poked his chest with her free hand. “Worse, you let yourself get hurt, too!”

“I couldn't let that guy talk about you that way, Yoiko…” grumbled the boy she was dragging around behind her, who flinched every time she pressed against a hidden bruise. “Besides, he suffered a lot more than I did.”

“That doesn't make me feel any less guilty!” Ranma replied, looking up into the boy’s eyes with concern that caused Ukyo's composure to crack.

“Who’s yer friend, Yoichan?” Ukyo asked as he crossed the street in a flash. “Didn't expect t’see ya on the way home today, don't ya go t’school pretty far away?”

“O- oh, hey Ucchan!” Ranma replied as she turned to face him with a smile, the sheer radiance of which briefly caused Ukyo's heart to skip in his stupid chest. 

“Ucchan? Yoichan?!” The boy flicked his eyes between the girl he was holding onto and Ukyo, gradually narrowing his eyes in betrayal that Ukyo understood all too well. He'd expected better of Ranma than to use her curse to start two-timing boys! She might have been hot, but she didn't have the right to mess with Ukyo’s feelings for the second time! “Who’s this, Yoiko?!”

“Yeah, Yoichan, what's the meaning of this?! Yer holding this guy's hand?!”

“He's my brother!” Ranma yelled, tugging her hand free of the other guy’s. “A- and Ryoga, this here is Ukyo, my uh- well we're- we've been really good friends for a while, but he's my… boyfriend.”

Ranma's voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke, each stammered syllable shaking and shattering Ukyo's tender soul as she clearly lacked the confidence to proudly declare him as her partner!

He supposed he kind of understood that, if this was the first time her brother was learning about him, but it shouldn’t have been a problem, after all their parents knew, and-

Yoiko's parents knew-

Ukyo blinked as that thought entered his head, and despite himself he couldn't stop scowling. This Ryoga guy might have been her pretend brother, but that wasn't the truth. He was an unrelated boy she was being very close to, who she apparently was a friend of, and- and if she was close to Ryoga, then-

If he was close to Ryoga? 

Ukyo still didn't really know what was going on with who Ranma was, and fretting about this wasn't helping.

“Nice t’meet ya, Ryoga,” Ukyo said, giving the shallowest of bows to the guy, if only to keep things civil.

Unfortunately, Ryoga didn't seem to appreciate it, his eyes twitching as he looked Ukyo up and down.

“You’re my little sister’s boyfriend?!” Ryoga demanded through gritted teeth. 

“That’s what she said, ain't it?” Ukyo narrowed his eyes and shifted his stance, fully prepared for this to come to blows. “That a problem?”

Ukyo wasn't really sure why he asked, only that his fists balled as he did so, and this Ryoga guy reciprocated, equally aggrieved.

“Of course it is! Do you really think you're man enough for her?!” Ryoga replied, leaning forward slightly as he overemphasized his words. “I don't think she-”

Yoiko very suddenly stepped on her brother’s foot and then shoved him back, thankfully shutting him up.

“Do you think you get to decide for me, bro?” Yoiko asked as she glared up at him. “You’re a piece of work, Ryoga, I swear. I ain't some hapless damsel!”

The simple idea of Ranma as a pretty lady in need of rescue immediately lodged itself into Ukyo's skull, briefly distracting him as he imagined her in a cute and frilly white dress, cradled in his arms as he ran off with her.

Though he couldn't really be sure if he was the thing stealing her or saving her, honestly, the difference was meaningless as he stared down at her luscious-

“That's not what I'm worried about!” Ryoga shouted, thankfully freeing Ukyo from his own imagination. “I know he's not going to hurt you, I'm worried he can't protect you! No so-called ‘man’ that effeminate can possibly keep you safe!”

Ukyo's body involuntarily recoiled as he weathered the insult, and he struggled to even find the strength to react. He was too busy wondering what he'd done to out himself, too afraid of what this Ryoga guy seeing through him meant. What if Ranma saw it too, if Yoiko hated him for not being man enough, if Ranma only liked him because Ranma thought he was just girly enough to love, or-

“E- effeminate?!” Yoiko yelled back as she started staring up at Ukyo, which caused streaks of red to start spreading across her face. “D- don't be a jerk t- to m- my b- boyfriend, Ryoga! I think h- he's very handsome!” 

Handsome.

Ukyo’s back straightened automatically as he heard the compliment, his lips pulled into a firm smirk, and that was all he needed to know. Of course he was handsome, every girl he'd ever flirted with had told him the same, why should Yoiko have been any different?

This Ryoga jerk was just threatened.  

He was intimidated that a true lady's man like Ukyo had so effortlessly won Ranma's heart, had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she belonged to Ukyo alone, and that Ryoga had to settle for-

Settle for-

Ukyo furrowed his brow and had to remind himself that Ryoga thought the two were related, somehow. Ukyo really needed to ask how Ranma possibly managed to fool three different people with her cute girl routine, but he could worry about that later. Right now he needed to just accept that this Ryoga guy was just… overprotective of a sister he'd actually never really had.

Before Ukyo could do anything with that understanding, however, he felt something latch onto his arm and squeeze him tight, and from how soft it felt, he understood immediately that Yoiko had decided to make a show of how much she liked him.

It was impossible to stop the blood from rushing to his face, and only the fact that she was holding his arm tight prevented him from accidentally pushing her away or lashing out from nervousness. Instead he simply buried his face in his free hand and tried to regain his composure enough to speak.

“Y- yeah, an’ relax, I just want what's best fer her,” Ukyo eventually managed, tilting his head down ever so slightly so he could meet Ryoga's gaze. This guy had a lot of nerve implying Ukyo wasn't man enough when Ukyo had to be a whole centimeter taller than him! That was a big deal, considering the disadvantage Ukyo had!

“Are you sure, Yoiko? He's not tricking you somehow?” Ryoga tapped his chin, losing himself in thought as he came dangerously close to one possible interpretation of the truth. “Well… okay, I'm sorry Ukyo, I guess I got carried away. Besides, you're not the girliest person she's ever had a crush on. That title belongs to that womanizer Ranma, who used me just to get close to her, so he could prey on her and-”

Yoiko slapped Ryoga across the face, the red on her face far more obviously born of pure anger as she rejected his attempt at insulting her previous cru-

Identity?

Ukyo's eyes twitched as he tried to work out how she'd lied about who she was so hard that Ryoga had fake memories of her dating or kissing herself.

“Y- Yoiko?” Ryoga rubbed the site of the impact slowly as the shock of her sudden violence overtook him.

“Don't talk about Ranma like that,” Yoiko said, suddenly glancing to the side. “B- because I know you're mad at him, but you gotta know that he never meant to hurt you, he never asked for you ta run off after ‘em or anything! You two used ta mean a lot to each other, and you shouldn’t throw all that away over some accident you got into!”

Ukyo tilted his head as he watched the display, suddenly well aware that he was out of the loop on something. These two were friends, then Ranma did something cruel, ran off, and left Ryoga to pick up the pieces, and Ukyo really didn’t know what else was wrong.

Only that it sounded pretty typical for Ranma and his dad, honestly.

Ukyo hoped that Ranma wasn't actually the malicious party this time, that it had just been Mr. Saotome, but Ukyo was going to have to interrogate her about that later, just like he had to ask what ‘ used ta mean a lot to each other' meant… 

Because if Ranma really had a maiden’s heart, if her first love with this poor Ryoga boy, and this whole Yoiko scam was just some wild Saotome scam to try to get close to him again, Ukyo was going to have to beat that Ryoga guy into next week!

O- or yell at Ranma, who would have been the one playing with his heart, obviously. Ukyo probably shouldn't have been jealous, even though she was his first love, and they were engaged, and if there was anyone in the world who might have understood Ukyo's issues with the body he was given, it was her. It had to be her. He wanted it to be her.

He just needed to find the courage to bring it up.

“I don't expect you to understand, Yoiko, this is a grudge between men,” Ryoga replied, shaking his head.

“So you admit he was one of the manliest guys alive, right?” Yoiko’s voice grew chipper as she grabbed her brother by the hand again, apparently suddenly over her outburst. “You gotta stop lyin’ about him, especially in front of people! You're gonna give people the wrong idea!”

“Manly?” Ukyo asked without thinking, confused that a girl like Ranma would even try to insist that. Maybe it was part of her deep cover, or a sign that she didn't fully understand her own heart, but she had no reason to be touchy about her guy side’s appearance, and least not in that respect. If her guy side was girly that just meant it was going to be easier to make the jump to being a full girl, right?

Though admittedly Ranma was pretty good looking for a guy, not that Ukyo really wanted to let himself care what guys looked like, and sure Ukyo might have responded the same way if someone called his unbound and improperly dressed self ugly, but his point still stood! Ranma being weird was making it hard to tell what was even going on in her soul. Either way, he was going to look stupid if he didn’t move on. “B- by which I mean, I don't got competition, do I?”

“Ucchan, what the heck’re you sayin’?!” Ranma demanded, snapping her head in his direction. “O- of course you don't! Ranma means nothing to me, I just-”