Chapter Text
It was just a normal, albeit quiet day at the Tendo Dojo as Akane Tendo strolled up the stairs to her bedroom to just do some quiet studying for herself. That was at least her plan before she heard the muffled sounds of movement coming from the room the Saotome’s shared.
Akane quirked up an eyebrow at the sounds, knowing full well that Mr Saotome was off with her father doing… whatever it was they did together and Ranma was out of the house doing another of his ‘private training trips’ he’d started doing over the past few months.
Akane walked to the Saotomes’ room and slid the door open to see none other than Nabiki on her hands and knees in the wardrobe that was embedded in the wall. She was pushing aside, shifting and pulling boxes out of the way as she went through the wardrobe, very clearly searching for something.
“Nabiki?” Akane called out, causing her older sister to lift her head and look towards her from over her shoulder. “What are you doing going through Ranma’s stuff?”
“Who says I’m going through Ranma’s stuff, Akane?” Nabiki replied with a raised eyebrow and an all too smug grin. “What if I’m going through the Panda’s stuff? Not worried about that?”
“I could care less about what you find that belongs to Mr Saotome, I do care if you are going through any of Ranma’s belongings though.”
Nabiki put a hand to her chest in faux sympathy. “What a caring fiancée you are to him Akane, I’m so proud of you.” Nabiki’s voice was dripping with sarcasm before she restarted her search.
Akane blushed hard and stomped towards her sister. “H-Hey! Don’t get the wrong idea, Nabiki! I just want to make sure that dummy doesn’t blow up at us when he comes back and finds his stuff messed with!”
Nabiki simply waved her hand dismissively, not stopping her rummaging for a moment. “Yea yea, whatever you say Little Sister.”
The two were silent for a few moments, the only sounds being the sound of shifting items and long forgotten storage boxes.
“Okay, seriously Nabiki. What ARE you doing?” Akane finally asked, pushing her fists into her hips as her sister crawled deeper into the wardrobe.
“Doing inventory on any outfits our local gender swapper might be hiding from me. Y’know, for future investments.” Nabiki said before letting out a hum once she spotted a box that looked a little too well placed against the wall against the far corner.
Akane huffed as she watched her sister crawl towards the box and grab hold of it. “Seriously? You’re checking to see if Ranma has any girl clothes that he’s hiding from you?”
Nabiki just shrugged as she slid the box out of the way. “Hey, Ranma can be sneaky when he wants to be, plus despite growing up on the road he has surprisingly good fashion sense for his girl body.”
Akane pouted while crossing her arms. “Uh yea, because most of that sense is because he just stole from MY clothes and learned how to dress from that!”
“Ah to-may-to to-mah-to Akane, either way he’s got clothes that are purely his now for his girl side and I can guarantee you there’s some even you haven’t seen.” Nabiki grinned as she finally saw the adjustable panel embedded into the wall that was perfectly hidden behind the previously placed box. “Bingo.”
Nabiki grabbed hold of the panel and managed to maneuver it out of its hole with only a few bumps and bangs, she certainly wasn’t as graceful as Ranma would be with something like this, that’s for sure.
Nabiki looked inside the hidey hole and flashed a smile that screamed ‘profit’ at the sight of two large duffle bags and what seemed to be a whole outfit in a clear plastic clothes protector near the back of the wall compartment.
“Come to mama.” Nabiki said to herself as she grabbed one of the duffle bags and pulled it out of the hole and placed it just outside of the wardrobe.
“Nabikiiiiii… I really don’t think we should be going through Ranma’s stuff like this… this feels… wrong?” Akane said as she wearily eyed the plain black duffle bag that Nabiki was now hovering over.
“Come on Akane, aren’t you a little curious what secrets Ranma has?” Nabiki was simply met with an unimpressed stare from her sister. “Fine, then maybe consider it payback for him being so vague about his recent ‘training trips’ huh?”
Akane shifted uncomfortably as Nabiki brought up one of Akane’s recent concerns with Ranma vanishing every so often on weekends. It’s true, he never did specify where he was going or doing, not even his own father could get him to confess what his private training was about.
And Akane was all too embarrassed to admit that the idea that Ranma may secretly be cheating on her had crossed her mind too many times to be responsible. ‘NOT THAT I CARED IF HE DID, HE’S A JERK ANYWAY WHO CARES WHAT HE DOES!’ Akane thought to herself before kneeling down next to the duffel bag as well.
“Fine, but only a quick look and then we put it back, okay?” Akane said to her sister who simply nodded.
“Fine fine, now let’s see what Ranma’s got in here.” Nabiki said while dramatically moving her fingers in a grabbing wave motion that reminded Akane of a goblin about to dig into a pile of gold.
Nabiki zipped open the duffle bag and peaked inside, only to immediately get a confused expression on her face.
“Nabiki?” Akane asked, confused by her sister’s immediate reaction to whatever she spotted first in the bag.
Akane watched as Nabiki pulled out a pair of bright yellow crocs and a pair of striped yellow leggings made of two alternating shades of yellow. “Seriously? I thought Ranma had more of an idea for fashion than this. I mean, look at this!” Nabiki said before pulling out a similar bright yellow pair of shorts from the bag. “Look at all this yellow being bunched together!”
“…Huh” Was all Akane could say as she stared at the clothing items. Akane didn’t know what she was expecting but she certainly wasn’t expecting clothing like this.
“I mean, crocs? Seriously? Surely Ranma has to have more class than this.” Nabiki said, shoving the clothing items back into the bag. She then pulled out a long piece of fabric that had two clips either end and was coloured with pink triangles along one side and red triangles along the other side.
“What is that?” Akane asked, examining the strange piece of clothing along with Nabiki.
“I’m pretty sure this is a belt or wallet chain but made of fabric. Weird, I didn’t think Ranma would be into these kinds of things.” Nabiki replied before putting it back into the bag.
Nabiki turned her attention back to the hidey hole and eyed the plastic clothes protector that laid across the floor. “Alright, let’s see what that is then.” Nabiki shimmied back to the hole and carefully pulled out the protected outfit and held it up by the attached coat hanger for both her and Akane to see properly.
Akane let out a surprised gasp at the outfit while Nabiki’s eyes simply widened at the sight.
Inside the clear plastic protector was a mostly light grey top and skirt combo outfit that looked like a cross between a military uniform and a school uniform with several accents of red along the edges of the outfit.
The top has two sets of sleeves with the one layer being longer sleeves that went down to the wrist and ended with black cuffs adorned with two red buckles held in place by golden studs and the other a short frilled layer that just barely came down off the shoulders of the top, with the right sleeve even having two frilled layers.
The front of the top had two rows of golden buttons with a set of thin black belts that resembled a ‘y’ layered on top of the buttons. The collar was high and came up to the middle of the neck with a small nameplate reading ‘0401’ on the side. The outfit has a high-waisted grey skirt with a wide red hem and a black petticoat underneath, a similar fabric belt chain was attached to the bottom of the red hem of the skirt. Across the skirt and sleeves were also several black wave lines made up of 5 indictable lines each.
Overall, the outfit looked completely out of place in Ranma’s clothes collection and looked like it should belong to some kind of high brand performer rather than a martial artist.
“Damn Ranma, you’ve been holding out on us.” Nabiki said as she gently turned the outfit back and forth in her hand.
“What is Ranma doing with something like this? This is way too nice to be a part of his usual collection of girls clothes, it’s even got a protector!” Akane said as she continued to stare at it.
“I have no idea. But I’m going to have fun finding out.” Nabiki said as she gently laid the outfit flat on the floor and pulled out her camera to snap a quick picture for evidence before beginning to put everything back into the hidey hole.
“You’re not going to keep checking Ranma’s stuff?” Akane asked as she watched her sister secure the wall panel back into the wall and slide the box back into place.
“Sis, that outfit there was worth this entire investigation. I don’t need to see anymore.”
Akane furrowed her brow as Nabiki walked out of the room while staring down at her camera. Akane let out a sigh as she followed suit and made sure to slide the door closed behind her. She had a lot of questions to ask her fiancé once he came back, that’s for sure.
—----------------------------------
It was later that night when the recognisable silhouette of Ranma Saotome, currently in girl form, bounced her way across the rooftops of Nerima back towards the Tendo Dojo. She was in her usual red silks and monk pants but added onto her usual style was a white ribbon tightly tied around the end of her iconic pigtail where the Dragon Whisker once held it in place.
As Ranma made her way towards the Dojo she made the effort to stretch out her shoulders with a rolling motion.
‘Man, showing the others some martial arts while we were hanging out is tiring work, is this what it’ll be like when Akane and I have to teach at the dojo?… if we teach together at the dojo I mean.’ Ranma thought to herself just as the mentioned Dojo came into view.
She took a deep breath to herself, preparing to jump back into the ‘man amongst men’ title that had become closer to a mask these past several months than something she really believed in anymore.
She noticed the lights had all been turned off, meaning everyone was either already asleep or close enough to it where she could slip back into the shared room with her father without disturbing anyone.
As Ranma landed on top of the roof of the main house, with barely a scrape from the roof tiles, she made her way down to the window to her room and swung inside. As her feet touched the cold floor she immediately knew something was off, her father was nowhere to be seen and the room somehow felt darker than normal at this time of night.
Before Ranma could even get into a defensive stance, a torch was flicked on and pointed directly at Ranma. Her flinch quickly turned into a wince as she covered her eyes and face with her hand to block the shining light from her unadjusted eyes.
“W-What the hell!?” Ranma whispered loud enough towards the light but quiet enough to ensure she didn’t wake up the entire house.
“Welcome home Saotome.” Ranma flinched again as the familiar and investigative voice of Nabiki Tendo spoke out from behind the torch light.
The torch quickly flicked off as a camping lantern was turned on by Nabiki’s feet, giving Ranma a clear view of the middle Tendo sister in her short pyjamas. But that also allowed Ranma to see that standing next to her was a still awake Akane in her own pyjamas with her arms crossed.
Ranma stared wide eyed at the two sisters who had been waiting for her for who knows how long.
“H-Hey Nabiki, T-Tomboy… what’s uh… what’s going on right now?” Ranma offered a cautious and shy smile at the two Tendo sisters as she tried to start making her way back to the window.
“Don’t even think about trying to jump out the window Ranma. Sit that butt down.” Akane almost seemed to order at Ranma.
Ranma immediately dropped to her knees while beginning to sweat from the differing intense stares she was being given. Nabiki’s stare was akin to someone staring at a mystery or riddle that they haven’t solved yet while Akane’s was more like a mother staring at a child who didn’t return home when they were supposed to, which Ranma supposed she kind of did.
Nabiki approached Ranma who stared up at her with wide, cautious eyes. Ranma audibly gulped as Nabiki bent forward to ensure her face was fully obstructing Ranma’s view.
“Alright Saotome, we just want to know one tiny little thing.” Nabiki said cryptically which spiked Ranma’s worry with every second.
“Y-Yea? And what’s that?” Ranma asked while uncomfortably squirming in place.
Ranma blinked at suddenly having a Polaroid photograph suddenly held up in her vision but the moment she realised what the contents of the photo were her whole body tensed and she made a sudden grab towards the photo.
Nabiki, anticipating Ranma’s grab and the speed of which the grab would be done, immediately pulled it out of range for Ranma’s shorter arms. “Nice try Saotome.”
Ranma ungracefully fell forward from the grab attempt before springing up and trying to grab it again, only for Nabiki to shove it into her pyjama top which halted any further attempts.
“Nabiki! You went through my stuff!?” Ranma was still attempting to be as quiet as possible as to not wake the rest of the house but was finding her resolve quickly cracking from the present situation.
“You say that like I haven’t done it plenty of times.” Nabiki waved a dismissive hand at the accusation, not even attempting to deny it. “So, gonna tell us what that super expensive and complicated outfit is about Ranma?” Nabiki’s predatory grin didn’t help Ranma relax for a single second.
“It’s nothing!” Ranma said a bit too loudly. She brought her voice back down as she continued to stare defiantly at Nabiki. “Besides, even IF it was something it’s none of your business.”
“Ranma.” Ranma flinched at Akane addressing her again as she approached. “Does this have something to do with your ‘training trips’?”
Ranma resisted the urge to freeze up as she simply scoffed. “What? No. Why would it have anything to do with those? Like I said, it’s nothing. So drop it.” Ranma gave one last glare at Nabiki before looking directly at Akane, her expression softened just enough for Akane to see the slight look of hurt in Ranma’s red eyes at having her privacy invaded.
Ranma turned away from the two Tendo sisters as she suddenly walked towards the window again while picking up her book bag which had been resting against the wall.
“Ranma? Ranma, where are you going?” Akane called out as she took a hesitant step forward.
“I need to cool off and right now that means not being here.” Ranma lifted her leg onto the window sill and cast a look back at them over her shoulder. “Look, I’ll see you at school tomorrow but… I’m not getting any sleep here tonight. I’ll see you later.”
Without another word, Ranma leapt back out the window and into the quiet night, leaving almost as soon as she had arrived.
Both Akane and Nabiki were slightly stunned at Ranma so quickly removing themselves from the situation instead of simply blowing up in anger and proceeding to brood until tomorrow.
“Well that was weird.” Nabiki helpfully pointed out before turning to leave the room. “I’m going to bed since it looks like he won’t be back tonight.”
Akane watched her sister leave while listening to her footsteps echo back into the room before she disappeared into her bedroom. Akane turned her attention back to the window, as if willing herself to imagine Ranma still lingering there with that same look of genuine hurt in their eyes.
Akane grabbed a fist full of her shirt before leaving the room herself. “I need to apologise… why the hell did I let Nabiki convince me to do this… that was so stupid.” Akane let out a shaky sigh as she entered her own bedroom and proceeded to face plant into her pillow.
While Akane allowed her guilt to fill her mind before sleep, Ranma leapt from rooftop to rooftop as she made her way towards one of the places she had been visiting for several months now to get away from all the chaos of her regular life.
As she bounced between the rooftops, she began undoing her iconic pigtail, while making sure to hold the white ribbon in her mouth to not lose it to the nighttime breeze, and started to rapidly change her hairstyle.
She needed to not be Ranma right now and the easiest way to achieve that is through her iconic red hair.
After a few more jumps the red head smiled to herself as she finally finished setting her hair style in place, sure she would let it freefall again once she got ready to sleep but the small comfort the completely different hairstyle brought her was enough right now.
She finally spotted the familiar house that had almost become a second home to her over these several months and let a soft smile cross her face. She landed directly in front of the door and gave it a few solid knocks to single her arrival.
She was only standing there for a minute or two before the door opened and the appearance of a girl with long bright cyan coloured hair that almost brushed against the floor stood there in slightly ruffled pyjamas while lazily rubbing one closed eyed with her fist.
The cyan haired girl blinked several times to force her previously asleep brain to become aware enough for the current situation. “Hey Bestie…” She yawned into her hand while giving the redhead a smile. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going back home.”
The red head shrugged as she looked to the side and down the street. “I was but uh… something happened over there so I was wondering if I could crash at yours for the night…?” She gave her friend a shy smile while turning back to her. “Maybe need to also borrow some pjs if you’ve got any to spare.”
The cyan haired girl simply giggled as she moved aside to let her inside. “For my Bestie? Absolutely. I’m sure I’ve got some cute comfy pyjamas for you to wear.”
The red head let out a satisfied sigh as she stepped forward into the house. The last thing anyone from the street would have seen before the door closed behind her was the way her bright red twin drills bounced happily on either side of her head.
—----------------------------------
It was the next day and true to their word, Ranma didn’t return to the dojo last night but was present for class.
Ranma was back in their guy form but was noticeably quieter than normal while occasionally sneaking glances at Akane who pretended not to notice the looks. Akane couldn’t blame her fiancé for the awkward tension between them. She knew better than to go crawling around in Ranma’s things, knowing how little privacy they got when sharing a room with their father and occasionally their mother when she visited. But the way that expensive and expertly crafted outfit stood out to both her and Nabiki, well she just couldn’t ignore it.
She was still going to apologise though, Ranma deserved that much but that still didn’t stop that weird feeling in her gut or heart that Ranma was doing… something behind her back with these ‘training trips’ and wasn’t being honest about it.
So, as lunch rolled around and Akane and Ranma’s friends all gathered around on the roof to eat, Akane pulled Ranma to the side before the two could join them.
“A-Akane? What are you-?” Ranma stammered out before suddenly having Akane’s hand cover their mouth.
“Ranma. Just… look…” Akane took a deep breath as she stared right into Ranma’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for looking through your stuff with Nabiki, I shouldn’t have done that, you deserve privacy no matter what it is and I won’t do it again. But… you can’t tell me that nothing is going on, it’s… look you say they’re training trips but they’re not, right? Just… be honest with me, if you’re doing… something without me knowing then…” Akane’s voice trailed off as her hand slid off Ranma’s mouth.
“H-Hey if you’re thinking I’m doing anything like cheating you on you’ve got the wrong idea Tomboy! I’m not-!” Ranma huffed as Akane continued to stare at them intensely. “Look… I… I don’t want to talk about it. At least not right now. When I'm ready I will but… not yet.” Ranma turned their head away from Akane to avoid her eyes.
Akane continued to observe Ranma for a few more seconds before giving a nod and stepping back away from them. “Alright. I trust you Ranma just… promise me you’ll be honest when you’re ready, okay?”
Ranma nodded while rubbing the back of their neck. “Yea. Yea, I promise.”
“Good. Now come on, our friends are still waiting.” Akane said as she began walking towards their friends who were already sitting around in a circle.
Ranma followed behind and as the two got closer they could see their friends bobbing their heads and gently swaying as they listened to a song being played from the middle of the circle. Ranma and Akane exchanged a curious look as they approached.
“What are you guys listening to?” Akane asked as their friends all looked at them.
“There you two are!” Yuka called out as she pressed her finger on the pause button on the bright pink iPod she had in her hand. “Sayuri was just showing us a song from that new idol group that’s been getting popular lately.”
Sayuri nodded as Akane and Ranma sat down to join the circle, with them both now able to see that there was a mini speaker connected to the iPod via a wire sitting in the dead centre of the group. “Mhm! They’re soooooo good! I was actually showing everyone a song from their newest member, she sounds really good! She’s got such a unique accent compared to the others but also fits in with them so well. Here, why don’t you two listen too! C’mon Yuka! Play it from the beginning!” Sayuri said as she gently shook Yuka’s shoulder with her palm.
Yuka laughed as she pressed the rewind button on the iPod to the beginning of the song that was just being played. “Alright alright I got it!” Akane tilted her head in interest before looking over at Ranma who suddenly sitting very still and looked nervous for some reason. Akane furrowed her brows at Ranma and was about to ask them what was wrong before Yuka pressed play.
A string of piano keys and guitar strums played out of the speaker on the ground as the song began.
“So- FUCK-”
Akane was immediately caught off by the dramatic swear right at the beginning of the song before the singer began to sing the song properly.
Akane listened to the song, completely engrossed in the instrumentals, lyrics and especially the voice of the singer. The song sounded ‘amateurish’ with the singer’s occasional slip ups and stutters but there was so much passion in every word and line delivery that Akane couldn’t help but be enraptured by the song and the singer. One thing that surprised Akane the most was despite this sounding like an early song made by the singer, her English and ability to say full English tongue twisters during the song was perfect.
And it made Akane feel very weird inside.
There was something so familiar about the voice singing out their heart through the speaker that it made her heart beat and stomach flutter in a way that she only ever felt with one person.
Her eyes drifted over to Ranma who was now blushing a bright red that would have rivaled their girl forms’ hair and was visibly squirming through the song as if their legs wanted to spring them away from the group but they were willing themselves to stay seated.
The reaction from Ranma confused Akane even more than how this singer was making her feel. As the song reached a part where the singer started to sing more dramatically than the rest of the song so far, Ranma suddenly stood up much to the confusion of the rest of the group.
Yuka paused the song mid way through as everyone stared at Ranma.
“Yo, Ranma you alright dude?” Daisuke asked as he raised an eyebrow.
“Yea dude, you’ve been squirming since the song started.” Hiroshi added.
“Ranchan, what’s up Sugar?” Ukyo asked as she slid a piece of okonomiyaki into her mouth.
“Ranma?” Akane quietly asked as Ranma clenched and unclenched their hands.
“I uhhh… I just remembered I gotta go do something! See you all in class!” Without another word, Ranma sprinted off back into the school building and down the stairs which left everyone blinking in confusion at the genderswapping martial artist's weird exit.
“Huh, wonder what’s up with Ranma?” Yuka said with a tilt of her head. “Maybe he just didn’t like the song?”
“With a reaction like that? There’s no way it’s something as simple as just not liking the song.” Sayuri responded.
“Maybe I’ll bring him some food later to see if that’ll calm down whatever is going on.” Ukyo quietly said to herself, now seeming to quietly create another scheme.
Akane hummed as she looked down at the speaker again. “Hey Sayuri?” Sayuri hummed in acknowledgment to Akane. “What’s the name of this song?”
“Oh! It’s called Birdbrain!” Sayuri said while happily clapping her hands together. “It’s sung by the most recent idol of Vocaloid, Teto Kasane! She joined a few months back and has been getting pretty popular lately! She’s quickly becoming one of my favs as well!”
“Teto Kasane?” Akane asked with a tilt of her head.
“Mhm! I don’t have a picture on hand but every member of the group has a main colour associated with them and an iconic hair style. Teto’s is red with her hair being bright red too with her hair always styled in these amazing looking twin drills.” Sayuri explained.
“Bright red head?”
“Uh huh! Honestly when I first saw a picture of her I immediately thought of Ranma’s girl body, I mean, bright red hair is kind of Ranma’s girl form's most identifying feature!” Sayuri laughed as she poked Yuka to restart the song. “It’s a total coincidence though, I mean, Teto probably dyes her hair while Ranma’s colour is all magical and what not.”
“…Huh.” Was all Akane could respond with as Yuka pressed play again. What came next from the song had pretty much the whole friend group chuckling or out right laughing.
“OOOOOOOOH GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! OH! MY PEEEEEEEEEENIIIIIISSSSS! AHHHHHHHHHHH-!”
—----------------------------------
The bell for the end of school finally rang out as Akane walked a couple paces behind Ranma. Ever since they ran off during lunch her fiancé was acting like they wanted to vanish from the face of the earth from embarrassment for some reason. Akane couldn’t figure out why, Ranma didn’t have anything to do with the song they were listening to at lunch… right?
As the two left the school gate, Ranma made an abrupt turn towards Akane which caused her to yelp in surprise. “Hey uhm… I’m going to do something all afternoon… I’m gonna be back before dinner at the latest though so uh…” Ranma scratched the back of their head as Akane stared at them.
As Akane stared at Ranma acting all embarrassed she couldn’t help the image of Ranma’s girl form pulling this exact pose and expression and finding only one way to describe it that popped into her mind.
‘Cute…’
Akane felt herself blushing as well before quickly shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “Y-Yea that’s fine Ranma! Where are you uh… where are you going?”
The question seemed to catch Ranma off guard as they visibly flinched. “Just uh… y’know… out and about.” Ranma coughed into their fist as the two stood there awkwardly in silence for several moments.
“So… see you at home later?” Akane finally said as she and Ranma locked eyes, causing both to blush harder.
“Home… y-yea! See you at home later.” A rare genuine smile crossed Ranma’s face as they turned and started running down the street before disappearing over a distant roof.
Akane sighed silently as she began walking back home. Akane allowed her thoughts to wonder as she looked across the various details of the street. Earlier in the day when lunch was about to finish, Akane had made a quick pit stop to Furinkan’s computer lab and had searched up a picture of the Idol group Vocaloid and more prevalently a picture of Teto Kasane herself.
The moment Akane saw a full body picture of the idol, she felt her breath catch in her throat from the sight of her. There in the picture was Teto mid performance on a stage that seemed to be in an enclosed performance hall right beside one of her fellow idols, a girl with bright cyan hair tied into two massive twin tails who Akane learned from some brief research was the leader of the group.
In the picture—that Akane had stared at for way too long—Teto was wearing a large jacket that hung off her shoulders and completely covered her hands with a cropped tank top underneath. Her pants were extremely baggy that reached down to her shoes with a large slit cut out of them right at the knees while a white belt hung off the back of her pants that gave the appearance that she had a tail. Her recognisable twin drills were also decorated with differently sized flat white flowers.
The first thing Akane thought upon seeing Teto was if she was some weird clone of Ranma because despite the different hairstyle and quite fashionable clothes for an onstage performance the girl was almost identical to Ranma in every way. Same facial structure, same muscles, same… bust.
But the thing that made Akane doubt if this was actually Ranma was Teto’s eyes and smile.
The look in Teto’s eyes was something that she had never seen from Ranma before.
Freedom.
Teto looked so free and happy while on stage next to her fellow idol, and the way her smile radiated against the overhead stage lights as if she was completely unburdened by the world made Akane’s heart flutter.
On the other hand, Akane had never seen that look from Ranma before. Ranma always looked like they were on guard, caging themselves away from those around them and never letting themself relax for a second.
But Teto? She looked like she had none of that. Even in this still photo Akane could tell the girl was having the time of her life performing and singing.
Despite her initial thoughts, Akane was now heavily debating whether her idea that Ranma and Teto were the same person was even valid anymore. But with that brought a new problem.
Akane groaned as she stopped by the fence boarding the canal and slammed her forehead against the chainlink fence. Akane wasn’t an idiot. Stubborn? Absolutely, but an idiot she was not.
Ever since she first met Ranma she found herself being more drawn to their girl side but knew she was supposed to like their guy side, after all they were supposed to get married!
But after seeing Teto? Hearing her voice sing out after having Sayuri and Yuka play a few more of her solo songs for her at lunch, Akane couldn’t deny it anymore.
She liked girls, A LOT. And not only that but she was finding herself with a growing crush on Teto alongside Ranma. Did she have a thing for redheads? What kind of a coincidence was it that both Ranma’s girl form and Teto had the exact same bright red colour to their hair that seemed to ignite a spark in her chest.
Akane huffed as she pushed away from the fence. She was going to have to talk to Ranma when they got back, really talk about what this revelation means for them. Before Akane could start walking again though, she suddenly heard a bike bell ring out from behind her.
Akane turned as she saw none other than Shampoo and Ukyo sharing a bike and coming right towards her. Akane let out a shocked squeal as the two stopped right directly in front of her before they actually collided with her. “What the hell!? You two could have hit me!” Akane yelled out at her two rivals/frenemies.
“Kitchen Destroyer is fine. I didn’t hit.” Shampoo said while dismissively waving her hand at Akane. Akane suppressed the urge to growl at Shampoo.
“Akane, Sugar, you need to come with us.” Ukyo suddenly said, peaking her head out from behind Shampoo.
“Huh? Why?”
“We go find out where Airen disappear too all the time!” Shampoo called out as she pumped her fist into the air.
“W-What?” Akane half stumbled back at the suggestion.
“That’s right. Look, we all know these ‘training trips’ Ranchan has been going on ain’t really training trips. So we’re gonna find out what he’s up to and where he’s going. Gotta make sure he ain’t two timing us after all.” Ukyo said with a determined nod of her head.
“I…” Akane was completely caught off guard but took a deep breath to calm herself. “Look. Whatever Ranma is doing, I trust him. Just leave him alone.”
Ukyo and Shampoo shared a surprised look at Akane’s response.
“Kitchen destroyer not want to find Airen?” Shampoo squinted her eyes at Akane in suspicion.
“Yea Sugar, I thought you’d wanna be all over this.” Ukyo furrowed her brow as she stared at Akane.
“Like I said.” Akane could feel the frustration building in her the longer this conversation was lasting. “I trust Ranma. If he says it’s nothing bad, it’s nothing bad.”
Shampoo and Ukyo were quiet for a moment before Shampoo suddenly grinned like the Cheshire Cat which immediately put Akane on guard. “So what Shampoo is hearing… KITCHEN DESTROYER IS GIVING UP ON RANMA! HAH!” Shampoo laughed as she gripped the handles of her bike again.
“WHAT!? I’M NOT-! HOW DARE YOU!” Akane yelled back at Shampoo.
“It obvious! No want to find Airen? No want him anymore! Come on Chef Girl! Let’s go find Airen! Hahaha!” Shampoo laughed like a maniac as she immediately took off peddling away from Akane with Ukyo clinging onto the bike for dear life.
“H-HEY! GET BACK HERE!” Akane yelled out as she took off in a sprint after Shampoo and Ukyo.
Akane growled as Shampoo only peddled faster away from Akane, the only thing allowing her to keep track of them was Shampoo’s almost maniac laughter and Ukyo’s terrified protests at the speed the Amazon was going at.
Akane didn’t want to intrude on Ranma, she had given them her word but no way in hell was she just going to let these two crash whatever it is Ranma was doing!
Despite Akane not knowing where she was going, it at least seemed that Shampoo did. Had she been secretly pinpointing where Ranma was going these past several months? She really hoped not but it at least meant she could follow them directly to Ranma to try and stop them.
After several minutes of running, Akane heard the very distinct sound of bike tires skidding across concrete and the sound of a bike bell smacking against the ground. Akane rounded the corner just in time to see Shampoo and Ukyo dash into a three story building that looked to have been at one point an office building that was recently done up. A prominent neon sign on the large glass window out the front proudly reading ‘Vocaloid HQ’ made Akane’s eyes widen in surprise.
Akane shook off any thoughts regarding the building as she quickly ran through the open glass door her two rivals had gone through just moments ago. “Shampoo! Ukyo! I swear you two are the worst! You better not… be… huh?”
Akane blinked in confusion as she watched as an older woman with long pale pink hair and dressed in a plain white blouse and black pencil skirt stood behind Shampoo and Ukyo while she pinched the napes of her rivals necks with her index fingers and thumbs.
The two girls looked to be completely paralysed before both collapsing into boneless heaps into the woman’s arms. The woman huffed as she lifted Shampoo and Ukyo with no issue up and onto her shoulders before turning around and looking at Akane.
The two stared at each other for several moments before the pink haired woman’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh! I guess that makes sense you’d also be here huh?”
“H-Huh? W-Wait hang on, you got the wrong idea! I was just trying to stop those two from doing something stupid!” Akane started to defend herself before stopping due to the pink haired woman letting out an amused chuckle.
“Don’t worry dear, I know perfectly well who you and these two are.”
“You… you do?” Akane was now thoroughly confused as she watched as the woman strolled over to a large plush lounge that was resting between two plant pots on the wall to the left of the large window. She plopped the currently unconscious Shampoo and Ukyo down on the lounge, letting their heads gently bonk together as they slept.
“Oh yes, I must say you have become quite the talking point around here.”
“I have??” Akane was even more confused now. That didn’t make any sense. She searched up the Vocaloid Idol group earlier and she had never met any of these people before! The only way they could know who she was was if… but that couldn’t be…
The woman seemed to notice Akane’s inner turmoil and walked over to her to place a hand on her shoulder. “Well, it would seem a certain someone is still too shy to admit her truth to you, oh well, no time like the present then! Come along Akane! I think you've got an introduction to do!”
Akane was so caught off guard by the woman that she didn’t protest when she started forcibly pushing her through what Akane assumed was the reception to the building and into a hallway that led deeper into the building. “W-Wait! Y-You know my name?!”
“Like I said dear, quite the talking point.” The woman just laughed as she made Akane make a sharp right turn down one of the many branching hallways before coming to a doorway that was covered by a bead curtain where each string of beads was one of the colours of the rainbow.
Akane was pushed past the bead curtain before being made to come to a stop in what looked like a teched out break room, fit with a full flat screen TV with various consoles hooked up to it, a large crescent moon shaped lounge along with large plush bean bags were sat in front of the TV. Various full sized arcade machines lined the far wall with an air hockey and pool table a short distance from the arcade machines, while a small kitchenette with an island with plenty of bar stools sat in the corner closest to the doorway. Next to the arcade machines was also another door which Akane assumed went to a bathroom of some kind.
Inside the room were various people each with differently coloured hair engaging with the various activities around the break room. Akane recognised each from the group photo of Vocaloid she searched up earlier in the day with the group’s leader sitting front and centre on the lounge with two people with bright yellow hair who looked almost identical to each other sitting side by side to her, each with a Wii remote in their hands and playing a game of Mario kart on the TV.
Sitting on one of the many beanbag chairs was another yellow haired girl with a long singular side pony tail that hung off the left side of her head, she was casually tapping away at a yellow coloured flip phone.
At one of the various arcade machines was a girl with green hair and white goggles with red lenses vigorously tapping away at the buttons and shifting the control stick like a madwoman.
Standing at the air hockey table was an older woman with a brown bob cut and a guy with bright blue hair, each having a beer resting beside them as they fought each other in air hockey.
The thing that stood out to Akane was each person was wearing some form of casual or comfort wear rather than their idol outfits, such as hoodies, sweat pants or simple jeans and t-shirts.
The pink haired woman suddenly cleared her throat which drew everyone’s attention to the two new occupants which had Akane suddenly very nervous.
Everyone stared at her with a look of intrigue with some even having a look of similar recognition to how the pink haired woman looked at her earlier.
“Everyone,” The woman called out to the room, “we’ve got an impromptu guest today, and…” The woman seemed to stop as she also scanned her eyes around the room. “Where’s Teto?”
The cyan haired girl snorted as she stood up from her spot on the lounge, pausing the game and quickly sliding her fingers through her two long twin tails to straighten them out. “She had to quickly wash her hands, something about the game getting so intense that she couldn’t hold her controller properly from how sweaty her hands got.”
The girl laughed more openly as the two identical individuals on the lounge also giggled. She strolled towards Akane and suddenly clasped her hands in her own. “So you’re Akane huh? Gosh Teto wasn’t kidding! You are seriously cute! If you weren’t already taken I properly would have taken a shot at you myself!”
Akane was sure she was blushing as red as Ranma’s girl hair from the new girl as she held her hands. “W-What!? H-How would…! I-I don’t…!” Akane stuttered as the new girl simply tilted her head curiously at her.
Her bright blue eyes suddenly widened in understanding as she stepped back a bit. “Ohhhhh! She hasn’t talked to you properly about this yet! Oopsies! Sorry about that!” The girl laughed as she twirled one of the strings of the blue hoodie she was wearing.
“S-She…?” Akane asked again just as a door on the far side of the room opened and out stepped a girl with two bright red drills on either side of her hair.
“Alright! You guys better be ready! I’m ready to destroy you all now-!” Teto stopped frozen as she locked eyes with Akane who was also staring at her in shock now.
The whole room seemed to go silent as the two girls stood as still as statues just staring at each other.
That was until the woman with the brown bob cut and wearing a red crop top suddenly clapped her hand onto Teto’s back while holding a beer bottle in her other hand.
“Well don’t just stand there dummy, go talk to your girl yea?” The woman said to Teto as she forced the redhead to stumble forward.
Teto shot her a small glare before finally finding her nerves and walking towards Akane properly.
As Teto got closer to Akane, she couldn’t help but stare at the red haired idol and see exactly who this person was.
“R… Ranma…?” Akane whispered out as Teto finally stopped right in front of her.
Teto seemed to squirm nervously as she shot Akane a shy smile. “Uh… n-not really… Uhm… it’s… kind of hard to explain Tomboy…”
The nickname was all Akane needed to know that the person standing in front of her was at least the same person she knew but was so unfamiliar to her she wasn’t sure how to process this whole interaction.
Teto seemed to want to freeze up again but a quick supportive squeeze to her shoulder by the cyan haired girl seemed to rejuvenate her nerves.
She took a deep breath as she stared directly into Akane’s eyes. “I uh… wasn’t expecting to do this so soon but uhm… Hi, Akane… you uh… may have known me as… Ranma Saotome but…”
Teto took another deep breath as she let a small smile cross her lips. “My name is Teto Kasane, sorry about this.”