Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

On the early morning on the suburban streets of Nerima a towering figure in a lovely orange kimono and stashed in cloth katana attached to the hip got Kasumi's attention. She was just finishing her daily shopping, when she heard the tall stranger asking for directions to the Tendo Dojo. Directions towards her home. Kasumi took a closer look at the stranger; she wasn’t sure if the person was a man or a woman. The kimono they wore was bright, decorated with a sunflower pattern. Its cut was definitely feminine, the face was quite androgynous, with slight traces of a subtle makeup, the reddish-brown hair that remained the oldest Tendo sisters of auntie Nodoka was put together in a long, high ponytail. And finally the most noticeable trait was that the person was extremely tall, easily close to 190 centimeters, maybe a bit more. 

One of the shop owners, pointed out towards Kasumi, saying something quietly enough that she didn't hear him, with that the towering figure started moving towards her. The oldest of the Tendo sisters just stood there and watched as the big figure walked towards her and started speaking.

“Good morning. Excuse my interruption but, I'm looking for the Tendo Dojo. The kind man over there said that you would be the best person to ask about it?”

Kasumi smiled weakly at the unknown person and gave a small nod before she gave her response. “Oh, definitely. I'm Tendo Kasumi, I live there. Are you a challenger by chance?”

The new arrival reciprocated the smile back at the young woman, before answering. “Challenger? Oh no, no. Don’t worry about that. I'm just here to visit Nodoka and Ranma Saotome. I heard from Nodoka, that they can be found there? Something about her home needing renovations?”

“Oh my.“ Even if she started with that, Kasumi wasn’t really too surprised. After all, all kinds of things just kept happening around poor Ranma. She wondered if the person she was just speaking to was another rival or some kind of fiance. Well they didn't call themself a challenger, and they looked a bit too old to have such a relationship towards the boy. …And they seemed to know Nodoka. She probably knew better than Genma, to keep making those silly arranged marriages. While thinking all that, Kasumi went quiet for a few seconds, before she focused back on the conversation before her. “Oh, that’s nice. They don’t get many friendly guests. Alright then, please follow me, the dojo isn’t too far from here.”

The stranger smile grew a little just as they heard the response, then they looked at the heavy looking grocery bags. “Thank you very much Miss Tendo, would you like some help with the groceries?”

Hearing that, Kasumi beamed for a second. It wasn’t every day she had any help with her chores. “That would be lovely~.” She finally answered.

—

Meanwhile at the Tendo Dojo, the daily routine was undisturbed. Akane was out jogging, while Genma just “helped” Ranma with waking up by throwing a bucket full of water at him, which soon started their everyday morning sparring. Kasumi arrived at home, just in time to witness a redhead kicking the soon-to-be panda into the pond.

“Good morning everyone. It seems everyone is up! Breakfast will be in half an hour. Meanwhile, Ranma, you have a guest.” Stated the oldest sister while taking her groceries back from their new guest and moving to the kitchen, only then she remembered that she never got the name of the helpful stranger.

Finished with the morning spar - if the one-sided beating could be even called that - Ranma quickly ran into the house to see the guest Kasumi just spoke about. He was quite curious about who it could be. Ukyo maybe? Nah, too busy at this time of the day, not to mention that after the wedding their friendship was struggling quite a bit. Shampoo? Nah, there was no sound of destroyed walls. Who then? The curiosity was quickly peaked when the redhead arrived inside the house and noticed the armed stranger that would have easily towered over Kuno.

“And who are you?” The question rolled out of Ranma’s mouth almost on its own as his mind was trying to explain why the giant was looking somewhat familiar. The question seemed to surprise the guest a little bit, looking at the facial expression of the samurai.

“Oh… You are right. How clumsy of me.” The stranger placed their right hand on her cheek, their eyes looked like they were thinking about something for a moment, then with a small smile, started talking again. “I'm Saotome Madoka, your Mother’s …sister. It’s a real pleasure to finally meet you.'' As she finished speaking, Madoka gave out a quiet giggle, while looking at her nephew with a pleasant smile that was something of a mix of Kasumi’s iconic one and Nodoka’s stoic one.

The small red head took another questioning look, the hair, face features, eyes… Yes, he could see the similarities. That woman definitely looked a bit like his mom, the only differences were in the amazing height, more broad shoulders and the fact that even through the kimono, he could tell that the woman had to be quite muscular. “- Umm, hi?” He finally answered, for a second he wanted to add the “auntie” part but decided against it. Most of the days, the other Saotomes were well… trouble. Just look at his pop or mom - as much as he loved her, she was a lot, with her ceremonial blade, that stupid contract and all those talks about manliness. That was one sour point. Ranma was proud of his manliness, as he always claimed, after all, according to the young, sometimes redhead, sometimes black haired, it wasn’t always easy to be a man, it would be nice to have a break from it.

The woman, his auntie that is, was giving him some strange look that Ranma couldn't interpret. “Well… I'm happy you found yourself sweetie. And that Nodoka was finally reunited with her child! Poor sister tried to find you and that good for nothing bastard for so long… But where are my manners? I’m sorry I didn't make it for the wedding, Nodoka mentioned it to our Father at the last minute.” The woman sounded sincere, but the current redhead was still warry. After all, his mom never mentioned she had a sister. 

“Eh, don’t worry about that, the wedding… didn't happen. It’s um… nice to meet you …Auntie?” He finally answered after a moment of silence, he was about to say something else, when he felt movement from behind - the panda was ready for another round. Ranma jumped away towards the roof, quickly dodging the strike, he heard a typical “Oh My” but this time not from Kasumi, the next thing he heard was a loud thump, looking down and noticed his Pop’s falling unconscious on the floor and Madoka with a edgeless sword. “I’m so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your pet bear, it startled me…” Answered the clearly panicked giant of a woman, while the man amongst men jumped down to check out the damage. “Don’t worry, he is used to getting his ass kicked.” Ranma quickly reassured her while chuckling under his nose.

—

Around twenty minutes later Ranma, Kasumi and Madoka sat at the table, the breakfast was ready but they waited for the rest of the household. The first one to appear was caffeine-deprived Nabiki, who, ignoring the stranger in the home, moved to her cup and simply took her place at the table, after her appeared Soun and then Akane. Only ones missing were Nodoka and Genma.The panda disappeared when no one was looking, the atmosphere was clearly different than usual, while Kasumi was having a polite conversation with their quest, the rest of the table was quiet. Akane and Ranma kept uncomfortably stealing glances at looking at each other and new Saotome, Nabiki just kept drinking her coffee and Soun seemed to be sniffing for some reason. Then finally, footsteps from upstairs could be heard, and seconds later Nodoka appeared in the room, though before anyone could say anything, the Saotome matriarch gasped loudly and quickly covered her mouth while yelling a surprised “Baby Brother?!” before she jumped in to hug the sitting sibling causing a small uproar around the table. “Brother?!” Repeated both Ranma and Akane.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

The revelation of Nodoka siblings created quite the uproar around the table, especially because Madoka spoke of herself as Ranma auntie. Only two people remained quiet, and those were the Saotome siblings. The ever stoic Nodoka was clinging to the guest of the hour as a young schoolgirl hugging her plushie. Madoka meanwhile let go of a small sight and hugged her sister back with one hand and petted her head with the other. “Oh it’s so good to see you dear brother, it’s been way too long! Oh look at you, you grow so much! I see you are still performing Noh? In which theater are you now? I’m so glad for your visit, I’m sure you can teach my dear Ranma a lot about pure masculinity!” There were tears of pure joy in the woman's eyes, tears that were quickly destroying her light makeup. “Older sister! You didn't age a day! I umm… yes, I’m still performing, you know me… always dedicated! But I don’t think that your child needs any such lessons.” Madoka was calm, yet visibly confused as she shared another look at Ranma. “Oh so you see his true manliness even in the cursed form, just what I could expect from my talented baby brother! Oh.. it seems like I ruined my makeup, please forgive me I will be right back.” And with that Nodoka had loosen her grip onto her sibling, stood up and quickly moved upstairs, all while Ranma and the Tendos slowly regained her composure. The first one to break the silence was Nabiki.

“Soo Miss…ter Madoka? I believe we are owed an explanation?” Asked the ever curious middle Tendo sister as her eyes were piercing their guest.

“Did you fall into a spring as well?!” Yelled Ranma and Akane in ideal synchronization.

“Oh my!” Added Katsumi at the end, while Soun remained quiet and continued his quiet sobbing.

“Miss, please.” Madoka started her response to Nabiki. “I love my sister dearly, but due to that bastard Genma, she became so obsessed with the idea of manliness… that she seems blind to the fact that I’m her sister and not a brother. Thought… When I saw you dear Ranma, I gave myself hope that she managed to outgrow that phase. I promise I will break that balding vagabond when I find him!” Though she sounded composed at the beginning, a true anger overtook her tone as soon as she started talking about Ranma’s father.

“...Soo you aren’t cursed Auntie?”

“Cursed? Oh, gods no. Well maybe in a way - in some people's views. But I’m a strong woman, I will move through those obstacles. Is that how you see it, Ranma? As a curse? But you are glowing so much!”

“Whaa? No! I’m truly cursed! This body is…!” Not wasting any more time, the red haired girl grabbed a cup of tea and splashed herself with the warm enough tea. Within a second, her body changed, grew in size, the shoulders widened, her color changed into black. “See!?” Exclaimed Ranma as he took a dramatic pose by flexing his muscles, only to be smacked on the back by Akane

“Stop showing on Ranma!” Yelled the youngest Tendo in a burst of energy.

“Oh…” Was the first response out of the visitor as she just viewed some real magic. “Are you shapesifter? A yokai? Grandma told me stories about a fox spirit that blessed our family in the past…”

“Fox spirit?” Started Ranma, but before he was able to say some more, Akane started to correct the guest.

“No, no, it’s a curse from magical springs in China. The place is called Jusenkyo, it has many different springs in which animals and humans have apparently drowned. If you fall into one of the springs you get cursed to take the form of a creature that drowned there. The pervert here fell into the spring of a drowned girl! Cold water turns him into a girl, hot water reverses that.” As she continued her explanation she grabbed a glass of water and splashed her fiance. “See?” Now completely damped red haired girl, replaced the black haired boy. The young Saotome had a frown on her face, but stopped herself from yelling and only muttered one sentence

“What was that for…”

Madoka was silent, but she looked impressed by the show of true magic. In her mind she was already planning a trip to China. Meanwhile in the whole chaos, the Panda and Mr. Tendo vanished somewhere.

“Ugh… I suppose I should go and change.” Murmured Ranma as she also left the room and moved up the stairs at the same time as Nodoka moved back downstairs and rejoined the table, taking a seat close to her sibling with a smile on her face.

“Im so happy to see you again Madoka, you grew so much since I last seen you! Looks like your time overseas did you good!”

“Overseas? Huh?” That seemed to pick Nabiki interest, Kasumis as well, giving the look on her face.

“Yes, I spent the last few years in the United States, getting my teaching degree.” Answered the guest.

“Madoka is the current head of Saotome kendo school. Our parents wanted to be sure that he is qualified to pass down the teaching of our style.” Added Nodoka with pride in her voice to help explain things further.
“Now that you are here you will start teaching Ranma as well, right dear brother?

“I will if they wish so, but you are more than qualified to teach him yourself dear sister.”

The air started to get a bit heavy, so Kasumi took matters into her own hands, trying to change the topic. “Did you enjoy your time in America?"

“It was complicated at times but I managed to make some friends and that makes it a worthwhile adventure and I also learned a lot. I missed our food though.” Madoka sounded genuinely happy, there was also a sincere, serene smile on her face, that reminded Akane of her oldest sister.

“Oh! I will cook you something nice for dinner then! Would it be okay if I borrow the kitchen, Kasumi?”

—-

Minutes later Nodoka was in the kitchen, Madoka and Kasumi talked over tea in the living room, Nabiki hid in her room, while the two youngest found themselves in the dojo. Ranma, back in his birth form, wanted to clear his mind, but Akane followed after him.

“Soo…. looks like you aren’t the only pervert in your family.” Started Kane

“Hey!” The comment took Ranma off guard, he himself hadn’t made any conclusive opinion on his mother sibling. But now, he was afraid to mention any of that out loud. Instead he gave his fiancee a confused look. “We… we aren’t the same.”

“Well… duh. Looks like he chose to display his pervert ways.. I don’t understand how Kasumi can just… talk with him. It doesn't look like she minds at all.”

“Ehh, maybe she is just happy to have someone of similar age to talk with?”

“That would make some sense… Anyway, your mom talked about Madoka teaching you some material arts. Do you think he is strong?”

Ranma took a moment before he responded to that question. He was sure that she knew at least enough to be Nerima brackets, but it was hard to know just by simple feeling. “Possibly? I'm sure that I’m stronger though!”

—-

Back in the living room, Madoka and Kasumi had a pleasant conversation, they talked about simple stuff, Saotome studies in the USA, their favorite foods and tv dramas. After some time the topic changed into Madoka's current situation.

“Do you plan to stay with us tonight, Miss Saotome? I could prepare a futon if needed.”

“Please, Miss Tendo, there is no need for formalities, you can call me by my name. And thank you but I already have a place to stay.”

“Well alright Madoka, if that’s the case, you should call me by my name as well. Where are you staying?”

“I’m renting an apartment with an acquaintance I met at my new job.”

“Job?”

“Yes, once the break ends I will be an assistant teacher at Furinkan High School. I also plan to take care of the school kendo club. I heard from my roommate that the club caused some troubles in the past. I will set them right.”

“Oh! Ranma, Akane and Nabiki are going there. I’m sure they will be happy to see a new friendly face in there.” Kasumi tried to sound happy, but there was something else in her voice, something that Madoka catched.

“Is everything alright Kasumi?” Asked Saotome with genuine care and worry.

Kasumi sighed before she gave any response. “It’s okay, I’m just a little jealous, that’s all. Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive, please, tell me, what are you jealous of?”

“It’s really nothing, please forget about it.”

—-
Nodoka was cheerfully working in the kitchen, she didn't expect to see her precious Madoka today, so the surprise really made her day. As she prepared for dinner, she remembered all the lovely moments of their childhood. Her little brother was always glued to her, they used to play together, train together, he was even joining her while she was spending time with her friends. Even when their parents were getting mad at him, he was always standing up for himself as well as for her. It was thanks to him that she was able to train with a sword until her marriage. Now she was sure everything will turn out well, with such a supportive brother by her side, Ranma’s goal of being a man amongst men was secured!