Chapter Text
Saotome Ranma lay his head on the desk behind his propped up text book in an attempt to hide his intentions of napping in class. With Ms. Hinako in her child form, he hoped she would be too distracted to notice. Just as he was closing his eyes, her childish voice spoke up.
"What do you think you're doing Mr. Saotome? No sleeping in class you delinquent! Happo go en satsu!"
Ranma felt his ki get sucked out of him as Ms. Hinako called out her attack. Now resembling a dried out husk, Ranma found it even harder to pay attention to the now adult teacher.
As class was ending, Ranma felt his energy finally returning to him. He sat up straight, drawing the attention of Ms. Hinako. Gesturing to the classroom door she addressed Ranma. "Mr. Saotome, a word."
Ranma resignedly stood and followed the teacher out the door.
"What's up teach?"
With a glare at his disrespectful tone she replied "Your classroom performance of late has been abysmal. At this rate you are in danger of failing your classes and being held back a year."
"Ah, c'mon Ms. Hinako, it's not my fault. I can't get a bit of time to myself without a rival or a fiancee or some new challenger showing up and preventing me from doing my work. Or if I do manage to get it done I get attacked out of nowhere and my homework gets trashed."
"Regardless of your troubles Mr. Saotome, you are still in danger of failing. I have a potential solution, but I don't think you're going to like it."
Ranma gave her a wary look. "What kind of solution?"
"It sounds to me like your home situation is detrimental to your ability to study. Therefore, you need to find a new place to stay that will provide a proper study environment."
"Not like I got anywhere to go. I'd move back in with ma, but her house is still being rebuilt after my unwanted fiancees destroyed it."
"My apartment has a spare room…"
Ranma interrupted her. "Uh-uh. No way. If the girls find out I moved into another girl's place I'm dead."
Glaring at the interruption Ms. Hinako continued, "As I was saying, I have a spare room, but it would be inappropriate for a student to move in with me. A male student anyway."
"No! No no no no no. I'm a guy damnit."
With a smirk the disciplinarian replied "Not all the time. A little cold water and 'poof' instant girl. Granted there are some logistics to work out, but it is still a viable alternative."
"No way! I can still pass without going girl for the rest of the year."
"One week Mr. Saotome. I'll give you one week to prove you can still get the work done with your current living conditions. Turn in all your assignments this week and I will drop the matter. Otherwise…"
Ranma flashed a thumbs up. "Count on it, teach! Ranma Saotome don't lose."
The next week did not go the way Ranma hoped.
Between Shampoo's attempts to get Ranma to take her on a date, Mousse's failed retaliation for said attempts and the Martial Arts Hot Dog Eating challenge Ranma still managed to complete his homework over the weekend. He was full of confidence as he made his way to school Monday morning. Then he heard it.
"Ranma! Prepare to die!"
With a quick jump, Ranma vacated the section of sidewalk he'd been on just as a crater formed in the spot. At the center of the crater stood his rival Ryoga Hibiki, his red umbrella buried several inches in the ground.
"Ryoga! When did you get back? How ya been pork butt?" Ranma goaded his rival with a smirk.
"Shut up Saotome! Because of you I've seen Hell!"
Ryoga quickly yanked several bandanas off his head and whipped them at Ranma. They flattened into spinning disks of razor sharp doom, veering quickly towards the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma danced effortlessly around them, dodging by the slimmest margin. But unnoticed by him, one of the bandanas clipped the strap of his bookbag, weakening it.
Ranma zipped in front of Ryoga, his fists lashing out in a blur of chestnut fist speed, landing several hundred punches in the span of several seconds. He easily dodged Ryoga's retaliatory strike.
"Stand still and fight you coward!" Growled out Ryoga.
"I'm not gonna just stand here and let ya wail on me pig breath. That's just stupid."
"Grrr…Die Ranma!"
Ryoga swung his umbrella at Ranma, missing as Ranma hopped over it. Ranma ducked and dodged around several more swipes as Ryoga got angrier and angrier. "Take your punishment like a man you bastard!"
Ranma just gave him a cocky grin in return. Fed up, Ryoga twirled the umbrella in his hand causing it to open up. He then threw it at Ranma. Once again Ranma dodged by the slimmest margin, spinning away from the umbrella and exposing his back to Ryoga briefly. Ryoga took the opening to hop forward, index finger extended, as he stabbed at the ground. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"
Hearing Ryoga call out his breaking point technique, Ranma spun back forward. But all Ranma's sudden movements caused the strap on his bookbag to fail where it had been nicked earlier. So Ranma spun away from the technique and his bag flew right into the middle of it. Shrapnel from the sidewalk peppered the bag, tearing holes in it and shredding the contents, including Ranma's completed homework.
"Damnit P-chan I had my homework in there!"
Ranma raced at the bandana clad boy, his fist once again flashing forward to deliver hundreds of punches in just seconds. This time they were all focused in one spot, breaking through Ryoga's inhuman resistance and causing him to double over in pain. With his guard down, Ranma was able to deliver a ki enhanced roundhouse kick to the lost boy's head, knocking him out.
Grumbling in annoyance Ranma gathered up what he could from his bookbag and morosely made his way to class. As annoyed as he was at Ryoga, he left the unconscious idiot where he was. No way was he helping the jerk.
Despite an appearance by the perverted old master Happosai, Ranma was able to complete his homework for Tuesday. He went to bed that Monday night knowing it was safe and sound in his newly repaired bookbag waiting by the front door with his outdoor shoes.
A loud crash from Akane's room woke him in the middle of the night. It was quickly followed by the demented laughter of the crazy gymnast Kodachi Kuno. As Ranma got up from his futon he could hear the progress of the fight between his uncute fiancee and the crazy gymnast.
He made his way out of his room and down the hall to the stairs as he heard the fight make its way through the main room and towards the entrance. He came to the entrance just in time to see the enraged Akane grab his bookbag and chuck it at Kodachi who was bounding across the Tendo lawn, cackling all the way. Sensing the incoming projectile, Kodachi twisted around. Her gymnastics ribbon flashed out, slicing the bag and its contents into pieces. With one last mad cackle she was over the compound wall and fleeing into the night.
"Stupid tomboy! My homework was in there! She was leaving. You could have just let her go!"
"She trashed my room, left holes in the walls and floors. I wasn't going to let her get away with that."
"Pretty sure those holes are from your missed hits, you gorilla."
Akane's hand clenched into a fist as she slammed it into Ranma's head, knocking him to the floor. "Ranma you idiot!"
Groaning in pain, Ranma muttered "Uncute."
Tuesday after school saw Ranma dodging another attempt by Shampoo to get him to take her on a date. Finally able to make it home after hiding for several hours Ranma still found time to complete his homework before bed.
His bookbag being thoroughly destroyed and not having had time to acquire a replacement, Ranma was forced to carry his homework in his hand on the way to school Wednesday. Unfortunately his Jusenkyo curse was acting up. First he dodged a splash from the ladle lady. Then there was the speeding car hitting the only puddle in the street. Next was the broken fire hydrant. Then there was the rain cloud appearing directly overhead and raining just long enough to soak him. Luckily for that one he was close enough to a store front awning he only got hit by a couple drops.
Finally he made it to school. He was just pulling open the doors when a deluge soaked him, now her, from above. Looking up he took a bucket to the face.
"Oh come on! Who throws out a bucket of water directly over the doors to the school?"
Looking at the homework in her hands it was totally ruined. The ink was running rendering the answers illegible. The pages were both sticking together and tearing apart. Ranma clenched her fists in frustration, crumpling up the ruined mess. With a sigh she tossed it in the nearest trash can.
Ranma picked up a new bookbag after school Wednesday. He made sure this one had an extra strong strap and was heavily reinforced. He made it all the way back to the Tendo's without running into any of the local nut jobs. It was an unusually quiet night and he was able to complete his homework in peace.
Having arrived at the school gates Thursday morning he was confronted by the myopic Amazon Mousse. His coke bottle thick glasses sitting atop his head, Mousse addressed a nearby tree.
"Saotome, you enemy of women. How dare you continue to reject my darling Shampoo!"
"Put your glasses on bird brain! I'm over here," replied Ranma.
Flipping his glasses down over his eyes, the duck cursed Amazon turned to face Ranma. "There you are! Prepare to face Amazon justice!"
With a put upon sigh Ranma replied "Look. Can we do this some other time? I've got school right now."
"Don't try to run like a coward. Face your defeat like a man."
With those words Mousse thrust his arms forward as lots of sharp pointy metal bits flew out of his sleeves. Ranma quickly hopped back, twisting and turning as he went to dodge the various swords and knives headed his way.
"Hey, watch it! This satchel is brand new." Turning to his Tendo fiancee he called out "Akane catch! This'll only take a minute."
He tossed his new bag to the dark haired girl. As he was doing so Mousse continued to lob bladed weapons at the Saotome boy. However, due to Mousse's poor eyesight he wasn't one for pinpoint accuracy, employing more of a spray and pray philosophy. As such, one of the daggers he threw was well off target and headed directly for Ranma's new bag. The extremely sharp blade sliced through the strap holding the bag closed and papers went flying everywhere.
Having turned back to focus on the myopic idiot, Ranma completely missed this. He continued to dodge the hidden weapon master's arsenal as he closed into melee range. Sadly for Ranma those dodged weapons proceeded to turn his fluttering homework into confetti. Now up close and personal with his bespectacled opponent he made quick work of him.
He first redirected Mousse's arms off to his sides, then fired off a standing split kick that struck Mousse on the chin, knocking him into the air and ultimately onto his back. As he landed, Mousse's head bounced off the ground, knocking him out.
Ranma turned to see Akane holding his opened satchel, little pieces of paper drifting in the air as they slowly fell to the blade riddled ground. He simply hung his head in defeat.
By this point Ranma had become downright paranoid concerning his homework. Thursday night saw him placing his homework in his satchel, placing the satchel in a waterproof bag and using it as a pillow while he slept. On his way to school Friday morning he unsealed his father's umisenken techniques to make his way unseen and unmolested to class.
Once in the classroom he very carefully removed his bookbag from the waterproof bag, eyes darting too and fro looking for enemies, stray blasts of water and even well-intentioned friends with messy hands just waiting to ruin his work. He slowly removed his homework from his bag, eyes locking on a suspicious mote of dust floating lazily in the air. Finally, he gently placed his homework on the teacher's desk, hand ready to yank it away at the slightest provocation. Satisfied he had properly turned his homework in, he stepped back from the desk and moved to his own seat.
Meanwhile, in the back of the classroom, unnoticed by everyone as usual, a hunched over Hikaru 'Voodoo Spike ' Gosunkugi put the final touches on his Ranma styled voodoo doll. Muttering to himself about how he would show up Ranma and prove his love to Akane, he failed to notice the hot wax droplet falling from one of the lit candles on his head until it landed on his hand. Crying out in pain, he jerked his head back, causing the flames of the candles wreathing his head to dance wildly, one of them catching his hair on fire.
Shrieking in alarm, he ripped the wreath of flaming candles from his head and flung it towards the front of the classroom. It was headed directly for the teacher's desk. The flames flickered wildly, but didn't go out as the candles Gos used had specially treated wicks that ensured long lasting flames in even the harshest winds conjured up by demonic summoning circles. The candle wreath landed on its side directly on Ranma's homework, the flames instantly catching the flimsy paper on fire. Before Ranma could make it back to the desk his homework was little more than charred remains.
Ranma dropped to his knees, threw his head back and screamed to the heavens "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ms. Hinako collected the day's homework from her class, noting for the fifth straight day that Saotome had failed to turn something in. Looking at him in disappointment she said "Mr. Saotome meet me back here after school to discuss your options going forward."
Ranma hung his head in shame. "Fine Ms. Hinako, but my mom should be here for the discussion. You can reach her at the Tendo dojo."
"Very well, I'll see you after school."
Once classes let out for the day, Ranma stood by the school gates to wait for his mother. He saw her approaching, cloth wrapped Saotome honor sword slung over her shoulder. He waved to draw her attention. "Hey ma."
As she drew even with him he started walking back towards the school. Falling in step beside him she asked "What's this about son? You're not in trouble are you?"
"Not exactly ma. 'Cause of all the crazy stuff that happens around me my school work has suffered recently. I know pops says school just distracts from The Art, but I realized that if I want to teach formally out of the dojo I at least need a teaching certificate. Though a degree would be better."
"That's just the kind of thing I expect from my manly son. So why am I here?"
Well my homeroom teacher Ms. Hinako has an idea to help me, but it's more than a little out there. An' I wasn't about to agree to anything without your opinion. Here we are."
Ranma opened a classroom door and moved aside to let his mother go first. Ms. Hinako greeted them as they entered and waved them to a pair of seats.
"Thank you for coming Mrs. Saotome. Has Ranma informed you why we're meeting?"
"He says you have a potential solution to his educational issues, but it's a little odd."
"Yes and no. The solution is fairly standard, but the execution is where things get unorthodox. The best way to help your child is to remove them from the environment that is negatively affecting their study habits. In this case the Tendo Dojo. Now Ranma says you have a home of your own, but it's currently unlivable?"
"Yes, that's right. It has to be rebuilt after his fiancees got a little overenthusiastic trying to retrieve what they were told was a ring box. They were led to believe it held an engagement ring and the one who claimed it would be the one and only girl to claim my manly son's heart. Unfortunately for my family home it wasn't a ring box at all, merely a pill box. By the time the girls were done fighting my homework was nothing more than scrap." Nodoka's eyes tightened and her hand grasped the silk wrapped Saotome family honor blade tightly in remembered anger.
"I see. Had your home remained intact, having Ranma move in with you would have been the optimal solution. As it stands my proposal is to have Ranma stay with me until he graduates. Unfortunately, having a male student living with a non-family female teacher is morally questionable."
"What aren't you saying Ms. Hinako?" Nodoka asked.
"A male student couldn't live with me, but a female student could. And Ranma qualifies as both. Of course Ranma would have to attend school as a girl as well. And 'she' would be transferred to a different class to avoid hints of favoritism."
"See ma, I told you it was out there," butted in Ranma.
Nodoka's face grew red in anger as she stared at the age changing teacher. Ms. Hinako held up a hand.
"Please Mrs. Saotome hear me out. There are several good reasons for Ranma to live with me and attend school as a girl. First, it gets her out of a bad living situation that isn't conducive to studying. Secondly, it gets her away from a classroom full of distractions in the form of her fiancees Miss Tendo and Miss Kuonji and the various attempts of other students to activate the curse. Third, recent studies have shown that girls learn better in a structured classroom environment. And while mentally Ranma is still male, her body is producing the female hormones and chemicals that lead to the circumstances that make it possible for Ranma to take advantage of a structured learning environment.
"The truth is that Ranma is in danger of failing all his classes and through no fault of his own. He tells me he completed all his homework this week, but in every instance it was destroyed by outside forces before he could turn it in. He gets attacked at all times of day and night, preventing him from studying and disrupting his sleep schedule. He often doesn't get to bed until quite late as other members of the household dump their problems on him expecting him to fix them and then his father wakes him ridiculously early for training by tossing his sleeping form out the window. Also disrupting his sleep schedule. It's no wonder he sleeps through class as much as he does.
"There is a brain in there, or he wouldn't be as good a martial artist as he is. But without a good education, he won't be able to succeed in life. These days no one can train classes of students without some proof of teaching ability, whether it be a simple certificate or a full blown degree. Like it or not, my idea is most likely his best chance to pass. I may have been hired primarily as a disciplinarian, but I am an educator at heart and I want all my students to succeed."
Nodoka sighed in resignation. "Surely there is some way for Ranma to keep his manly form and still succeed?"
"Nothing feasible. He could get his own apartment, but how would he pay for it? Students aren't allowed jobs, barring extraordinary circumstances like Miss Kuonji's. With the principal's antagonistic relationship with your son I can't see him approving an exception allowing Ranma to work. And how would he keep his various rivals and fiancees from showing up and causing trouble? By staying with me Ranma doesn't have to worry about outside distractions as I can keep them in check. Also, I can keep him focused on his schoolwork in a comfortable, stress free environment. I've put a lot of thought into this Mrs. Saotome. This really is the best solution. And it's not like it's permanent. Once Ranma graduates from Furinkan she can return to her male self."
"Very well. I accept your proposal Ms. Hinako. I do not like it, but you made many valid arguments and I cannot think of any rebuttals."
"What? Ma, you can't be serious. What about the honor pledge that I be a man amongst men? You really expect me to live as a girl for the next two and a half years till I graduate?"
Ms. Hinako spoke up, "It won't necessarily be that long. Part of living with me will be learning good study habits that you were denied while being raised by your father. Things may calm down enough after six months or a year for you to move out of my place. You could even move in with your mother once her home is rebuilt if the Tendo Dojo is still unsuitable."
Nodoka turned to her son, a look of commiseration on her face. "I don't like it any more than you do, son, but your teacher made many good points. We all know your education is important and if this is the best way to get that education…'a martial artist's life is fraught with peril' as your father likes to say.
"I do have one concern. How are you going to keep from changing back and forth? I do recall from past excursions with 'Ranko Tendo' that hot water seems to seek you out, and at the most embarrassing of times."
"Ugh, don't remind me. Being seen in a bra as a guy was not my idea of fun. But, I do have a bar or two of the waterproof soap that I've kept for emergencies. It doesn't last long and it dries out my skin if I use it too long, but it's something."
Hinako interjected, "That was a problem I didn't have a good answer for I will admit. Your solution, Ranma, sounds good for the short term, but we'll have to look into something more long term.
"Now, thank you Mrs. Saotome for accepting my proposal. It really is the best solution for now. To be honest, I am looking forward to having a roommate, though it will take some getting used to I'm sure. Life for someone with my condition can be pretty lonely.
"Anyway, I think it best I let you two get on with your day. Before I head home I'll start the paperwork for changing Ranma's school ID and switching her to another class. I'll be by the Dojo in the morning to get Ranma moved to my apartment and then the three of us can go shopping."
"Shopping?" Ranma asked. "What for?"
Hinako replied, "You'll need a proper girl's uniform and gym clothes for one. Also, you'll need proper underwear and chest support as well."
"Chest suppo…a BRA?" Ranma exclaimed.
"That's correct Ranma. It wouldn't be proper for a young woman of your 'proportions' to go without support and coverage at school. And while we're at it we can fill out your wardrobe with clothes appropriate for a proper young woman. The utility of your silks is acceptable when you could change sex at a splash of water, but not really appropriate for a normal girl of your size. If you really like the style I am sure we can find something similar in the proper size for your girl form."
Nodoka piped up, "A shopping trip? I did so enjoy the shopping trips with Ranko. It was almost like having a daughter of my own."
Ranma looked at his mother with betrayal. "Come on ma, really? Do I gotta dress as a girl?"
"If you're going to be living as a girl you should look the part. It's a sad fact that people judge others by their looks. I know you're my manly son, and nothing you wear will change that. Think of it all as a uniform if that helps."
"Fine," Ranma grumbled.
"Excellent," Hinako exclaimed. "Then I look forward to seeing the both of you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day."
With those words the three stood and trooped out of the classroom, the Saotomes to return to the Tendo Dojo and Ms. Hinako to head to the school offices to start Ranma's paperwork. All three looking to tomorrow with varying degrees of enthusiasm.