Chapter Text
Ryoga's eyes fluttered behind his eyelids as his mind resurfaced from his slumber. While the first few nights at the Tendo household were stressful — he'd been given the perverted old master's first floor guest room — a week later he was starting to get used to having an entire room to himself instead of his tent or his lonely room back ho—…Back at the Hibiki residence.
Even though it was just a futon, he appreciated that the Tendos gave him a space.
As he began to stretch, his arm caught under something warm and soft. At first he assumed it was Shirokuro before his sleep-addled brain reminded him that Kasumi insisted the dog either slept in the dojo or outside. Panic surged through his veins: was it the pervert, here to claim his old room back!?
Lustrous, black hair awaited him on the other side of his eyelids. Blinking through the confusion, his worst fears were assuaged when he realized it was just his long-term rival and nemesis Ranma snuggled up into his arms and fast asleep. His relief was so strong that he wasn't curled around the little pervert that it overrode any other feelings he might have had, save for the intense pressure on his bladder.
He gently slid his arm out from under her, careful not to wake his guest, made it to the toilet, and was mid-yawn when enough of his brain awakened that the yawn turned into a panicked scream. If that didn't wake up the rest of the household the thundering footfalls that accompanied him back to his room and the subsequent shouts certainly did.
"Why are you in my room!?" He bellowed at the groggy pigtailed martial artist rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Whuzza—?" she muttered as she looked around. "Why're you so mad in th' mornin'…"
Her clothes were dishevelled and falling off of her. Scratch that, she wasn't even wearing pants, just her red tang t-shirt and boxer shorts. His blood froze: surely she hadn't taken advantage of him? They didn't…they couldn't have?
"Ranma, there you are!" Akane pushed past Ryoga with a look of suspicion that only compounded his fear. She wouldn't be looking at him like that if nothing happened, right? Ranma seemed just as confused as Ryoga so he didn't think she'd be any help. "You disappeared after we ran into Shampoo last night and I couldn't find you. Why'd you come to Ryoga's room?"
Frowning, Ranma closed her eyes and pondered deeply. At least that's what Ryoga thought she was doing until her head lolled forward and she began to snore.
"Wake up!" He snapped impatiently. Akane rebuked him with a stern look. A quick glimpse down before she returned her attention to Ranma reminded him that he was standing there in nothing but his bandana and his own boxer shorts. He needed to get some clothes on before—
"Hey we having a party this early?" Nabiki swaggered around the corner with Kasumi and Mr. Tendo in tow. Only Mr. Saotome's absence saved him from death by mortification.
"Oh, now I 'member," Ranma slurred. "She fell inta the river. Tried t'grab her but she got wet." She paused. "Wait I'm in Ryoga's room? Stupid cat curse." Stifling a yawn she rose to her feet and let Akane guide her back to her own room.
Everyone else went back to bed too, save for Nabiki who gave him a nasty grin. "Musta been nice having a cute lil' thing like her in your bed."
"Oh sure, that's why I screamed at him." Ryoga wanted to sound tough but he was still rattled by his nudity and the events of the morning.
"Say what you want, we all know what went down with that fishing rod," she once again reminded him of that embarassing fiasco before she headed back to bed.
Grumbling, Ryoga closed the door and tucked himself back in. It took a few minutes for his heartrate to settle down before he could get back to sleep, but the last thing he noticed was the fruity scent of Ranma's shampoo lingering on his pillow.
Students gawked at the new girl who walked through the Furinkan High School gates. She was cute, maybe thirteen or fourteen, wearing a knit sweater over a black dress. The rumor mill began spinning as students speculated wildly. Maybe she was a transfer student, or one of the teacher's kids, or she was the harbinger of some new weirdness to Nerima.
The ones who guessed the last would wear smug smiles in the coming days.
Ninomiya Hinako, summoned to Furinkan by Principal Kuno to crack down on one troublesome student in particular, cheerily walked up to a pair of boys — Kiichi and Shingo — who were trying to suss out if she looked old enough to date.
"Um, hello guys!" She waved and they nervously chuckled in acknowledgement. None of the three heard the sound of rapidly approaching tardiness. "Where's the principal's office?"
Her last words, before the boys could respond she was stuck in the head by a pair of students: a black-haired, blue-eyed, pigtailed girl wearing oversized, green, Chinese silks leading a boy in yellow and black with a bandana by the hand.
"Safe!" The pigtailed girl shouted when her feet touched the ground. The boy dug in his heels and stopped, but didn't let go of her hand. Because her upper body's movement ceased she found herself on the ground after her legs attempted to keep going.
"Ranma, stop!" The boy in yellow shouted at her after Ranma's tailbone slammed into the floor. She wasn't sure if he'd done that on purpose or not, but she was furious either way.
"What the hell was that for, Porkchop?!" She got to her feet and knocked him so hard on the head a cartoonish lump sprouted from the impact point, but he just winced and pointed to the now unconscious Hinako.
"You hit a little girl, Saotome!" He growled. Ranma blanched at the sight: obviously it wasn't on purpose, she'd never intentionally hurt a kid, she just wasn't watching where she was going and…waitaminute, this was as much Ryoga's fault as it was— "And before you blame me remember that you were dragging me to school!"
Kiichi and Shingo, who'd long been Ranma's friends (they'd probably also argue best friends) and bore witness to the debacle, nodded in agreement with Ryoga. "Sorry Ranma, you were leading him." Kiichi quickly added to prevent a fight from breaking out, much to Ranma's frustration.
"Were you holding his hand? What's up with that?" Shingo diverted the conversation, though mostly just to satisfy his own curiosity. Both Shingo and Kiichi, however, were shocked to see Ranma and Ryoga blush and look away from each other.
"H-he's an old friend from junior high an' he's transferring here. He's real bad with directions so I gotta drag 'im along with me." Ranma rattled off like she'd rehearsed it. Fortunately, her friends were already familiar with Ryoga's infamously bad navigational skills and that placated them.
Ryoga distracted himself by hoisting the still unconscious little girl in his arms, the act drawing attention from students marveling at how easily he did it, and looked at Ranma expectantly. "Can you show me where the school nurse is? We'll drop her off on the way to get me signed up."
"Actually, she wanted to go to the Principal's office anyway," Shingo interjected. "We can take you there if Ranma's gotta get to class."
For some reason the current girl winced. "Uhh…I gotta see the lunatic too. I'll take Hibi—…Ryoga." She looked around at the other students, most of whom had dispersed after it was clear there wasn't gonna be a fight. A mixture of relief and dread colored her expression.
"All right, we'll all go," Kiichi helpfully added. "Don't worry, we'll tell ol' Pineapple Brain it was just an accident." He said it with a wink and a grin, but Ranma's face went pale and she mumbled her thanks.
Her friends gave each other a concerned look and tried to keep things casual as they walked. "So, uh…Hibiki, right? What made you decide to transfer?"
Ryoga grit his teeth and cleared his throat nervously. "Jus' tell 'em, they're gonna find out soon anyway." Ranma deadpanned.
"…My, uh, dad said I had to get an education." Ryoga tersely replied. Ranma clucked her tongue disapprovingly but said nothing, leaving Shingo and Kiichi just as confused as before.
The office provided a minor reset to what counted as normalcy at Furinkan, as they heard the principal talking to someone about cracking down on Ranma as they came in the door.
"Hey." Ranma punctuated her arrival by kicking the back of the principal's head, not that the leathery, heavily-tanned, palm tree-topped man seemed to notice. "We brought in a couple a' transfer students."
Principal Kuno scanned the assembly of boys who'd invaded his office. With a little recognition at Ryoga, but none at the little girl who was finally starting to stir. "Oh-ho, the new Tendo boy, yeah? But who's this lil' wahine ya carryin'?"
"How dare you step on me?" The girl leapt out of Ryoga's arms and knocked Ranma in the back of the head, spouting fresh lumps to match the one she'd given Ryoga. "Principal, I'm here!" She announced herself cheerily.
"Ah. An' who are you?" He asked, puzzled.
"I'm, Ninomiya Hinako," she seemed perplexed by his confusion. "You hired me to be Class 1-F's new teacher for the semester."
In the shocked silence that followed, Kiichi and Shingo latched on to two very different revelations.
"Sh-she's an adult?" Shingo spat.
"Tendo? I thought your name was Hibiki." Kiichi questioned.
"It was." Ryoga blushed and glanced at Ranma, who was attempting to slowly back out of the room as inconspicuously as possible. "Hey! You've got something to do here too!"
Ranma flinched but didn't argue, especially since Ryoga's bark pierced the Principal's aura of despair. "Eh? What's my favorite troublemaker got ta see his Principal for anyhow?"
She mumbled too quietly for anyone to hear. "Just tell him Ranma, he's gonna find out anyway." Ryoga smugly threw Ranma's words back in her face.
"I'm doin' it, slow your roll Porky!" Ranma snapped, but her friends noticed it wasn't out of anger but embarrassment. With a beleaguered sigh she looked the principal in the eye and put her hands on her hips. "Principal! Due to, ah, ex-ten-yoo-ay-tin' circumstances I'll be comin' ta school like this for, uh…a lil' while."
Hinako, being unfamiliar with Ranma's history, was having a hard time following the conversation. "Out of uniform?" She guessed, but Ranma shook her head.
"Naw I don't even wear the guy's uniform, ain't gonna catch me in that frilly dress."
Principal Kuno also didn't seem to understand, nor did Ranma's friends. "Whaddya mean 'like this', Saotome? Ya gotta injury or somethin'?"
Ranma's face twisted like she'd just eaten a whole bag of lemons, but she couldn't open her mouth. Ryoga sighed inwardly and answered for her.
"Ranma will be a girl for…until we figure out a cure." He gave her a reassuring nod even as she glared at his interruption, but once he broke the ice she was able to speak.
"I was gettin' to it! But…yeah, what he said. I should prob'ly change for gym 'n stuff in the nurse's office." She fidgeted with the tip of her pigtail, which Ryoga knew was her anxious tic. It took willpower not to wrap her up in a big hug, but with a quick reminder that she was his rival and actually a boy he prevailed. Plus she'd probably punt him to the sky.
"Hah! Hahahahahah!" Principal Kuno doubled over in laughter. Shingo and Kiichi were speechless, but Ranma turned bright red. Ryoga worried she might cry — she'd done a lot of that on the way back from Mt. Horai — but instead she delivered a punch to the principal's midsection that sent him crashing through the wall.
"Who's laughing now ya overgrown—" Ranma's insult was cut short by the diminutive voice of their newest teacher.
"Delinquency! Students should not attack the principal or school staff!" Hinako held out a hand which gleamed with ki. "Good child exercise number 1! Ja! Aku! Byō! Tsū! Ma!"
Light flashed from the five points she made with her arm and enveloped Ranma while the boys covered their eyes. When the light faded Ranma was groaning and twitching on the ground, looking like she'd just finished a multi-kilometer sprint.
Ms. Hinako now looked like a mature, adult woman in her late 20s with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Her clothes didn't change, which left a lot of leg visible, and Ryoga forced himself to look her in the eyes to prevent an embarrassing nosebleed. Ranma's other friends didn't bother. She slammed her foot into Ranma's back.
"Now Ms. Saotome! I expect this sort of behavior from naughty boys, but I'll not go any easier on you just because you're a girl." Hinako lectured.
In typical fashion, Ranma raised her head and glared. "I…ain't…a girl!" With a deafening yell Ranma pushed Ms. Hinako away and sprang to her unsteady feet. Unfortunately for her, their new teacher had some martial arts training and was already preparing her move again.
"Good child exercise number 1! Ja! Aku! Byō! Tsū! Ma!" Another flash of light and Ranma slumped to the floor, this time looking partially deflated. Ms. Hinako didn't change this time, but she did seem more energetic. "Goodness, but you're a willful one. I hope this was a useful lesson in discipline." Ranma burbled as defiantly as she could.
"You three." She turned her gaze upon Ryoga and the others. "Could you please show me the way to 1-F?"
Kiichi and Shingo quickly complied, but Ryoga stayed behind so he could finish registering, and promised to make sure Ranma made it to class when she could move again. As soon as they were alone in the office, he crouched down next to Ranma. "That was stupid. Going after an enemy you know nothing about."
"Stuff it…ham hocks…" Ranma wheezed, then grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. She'd been drained of almost all her strength, so he humored her more than anything. "Gotta learn…how she…did that…"
"Only thing you gotta learn is your new lesson plan, wahine!" An irritatingly familiar voice chimed from the him-shaped hole in the wall. Principal Kuno poked through it, holding two manilla folders, each with one of Ranma or Ryoga's names. "Here ya go my new keiki kāne," he gave Ryoga his folder, "an' welcome to da wahine club Miss Saotome. When ya get dis issue fixed we gonna switch ya back, yeah?"
He waved Ranma's folder in front of her furiously disbelieving face, but Ryoga snatched it before she could say or do anything to get herself into more trouble. "Thank you Mr. Principal," he bowed, then scooped Ranma off the floor in a bridal carry. "I'll make sure Ranma gets to class before we're any later." Ryoga had seen Ranma angrier before, but it was close.
"Oh I like dis one, yeah? Keep im around, Ms. Saotome and learn ya some manners!" The principal laughed uproariously, the noise echoing down the halls.
"So I don't know your first classroom," Ryoga began as soon as they were out of earshot. "Gonna have to tell me where to take y—"
"You're not takin' me anywhere: you're gonna lemme down right now an' I'll take you to your first stupid class." Ranma managed to get the full sentence out but it was clear she was still winded.
"Uh-huh." Ryoga deadpanned. "You can barely finish a sentence, just tell me where to go."
"Grrr…I don't need your stupid help. Let me go!" Ranma squirmed and started punching Ryoga in the ear. She was far from recovered so her strikes didn't hurt, but they were irritating.
"Hey!" he barked and squeezed her shoulder and knee. It was forceful enough that she stopped, though not because she was meek or timid. "I get that you don't like this situation but if you don't stop wiggling I'm gonna drop you on your ass because you don't have the strength to stand right now."
They glared at each other for a solid minute before she crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine. I'm in 1-F, but I don't care if my legs're still pudding when we get there, you're not carryin' me in there like this, okay?"
Ryoga nodded. "I don't want anybody to know—" Ranma's palms covered his mouth before he could finish.
"Shhhhh shh shh shh!" She looked around nervously before freeing his lips. "Don't even say the word while we're in school, idiot!"
Her begrudging savior rolled his eyes. He knew it was just a matter of time before things got out. Ranma couldn't even keep his curse a secret for more than a couple of weeks. Following Ranma's instructions, he effortlessly guided her to 1-F and, just like she asked, set her down on wobbly legs next to the door. "Okay here's your folder, lemme check where I need to go." Ryoga leafed through pages to find his class schedule and…
"Well, that's convenient I guess." He put the paper back and looked at Ranma expectantly. "Looks like I'm with you."
Ranma rolled her eyes, but it was kinda nostalgic sharing homeroom with Ryoga again. A flash of those times she walked him to and from school even brought a half grin to her face, which she hid by opening up her folder.
Akane Tendo, as well as everyone else in the room, heard Ranma scream in frustration before clumsily storming in and slumping into her desk. Ryoga stood in the doorway, just as confused as everyone else.
"Now Ms. Saotome," Ms. Hinako didn't pay the snickers from the students who thought she was accidentally getting Ranma's gender wrong any heed. "I understand my methods may seem extreme but you cannot disrupt class like that." Her eyes narrowed. "And we'll have to speak after class about your uniform violations."
Ranma's gaze was cold as it was murderous, but she said nothing. The class was stunned into silence: had their new teacher beaten Ranma Saotome? She didn't look injured, just exhausted and furious, but it wasn't like Ranma to accept attitude from any authority figure. And if that was the only thing that happened, that would have been one thing, but the principal had other plans.
"Attention all my brudahs an' sistahs of Furinkan High!" The man's hoarse voice crackled over the intercom, like he'd just finished laughing. Ranma groaned and buried her head in her arms. "Startin' today dat troublemakin' Saotome Ranma is our newest wahine! Make sure everybody be nice to 'er in dis tryin' time!" He barked out a couple guffaws before cutting the mic.
Noise erupted from all of the students trying to crowd Ranma about what happened. Did she choose to stay as a girl? What was gonna happen to her engagement to Akane? Is that why she was gone for the last six weeks? Was this like that time hot water burned her or was it more serious?
"RANCHAN, SAY IT AIN'T SO!" Ukyo pushed her way through the crowd and slammed her palms on Ranma's desk. "Why's this the first I'm hearin' of it?" The room went silent as the audience waited for Ranma to answer somebody's questions, but Akane came to her rescue.
"Hey!" She grabbed Ukyo's collar and pushed her away from Ranma's desk, then turned her attention to everybody else. "We are working on it, okay? It wasn't Ranma's choice and if she wants to talk about it she will." Ryoga and Akane met each other's gaze, and with a pained expression she nodded at him.
"Um…hello!" He nervously shuffled to the blackboard once he had everybody's attention. Most of the students recognized him already, and some of them even moved out of the way in case he was going to challenge Ranma as usual. "I, uh, just transferred here this morning. Akane's family adopted me recently, so my name is Tendo Ryoga. Please take care of me." He finished with a stiff bow, and much to his chagrin the gambit worked: all the attention that had been heaped on Ranma shifted to Ryoga and Akane. Weirdness followed the pigtailed martial artist — it was practically a weekly occurrence — whatever was happening with her would probably be resolved in another week or two. But an adoption, one that made Ranma's most notorious rival his future brother-in-law? That was the sort of thing that wasn't handled in a day.
Ukyo stayed near Ranma, though she gave her childhood friend some space: she could ask for details later. Fate surely had a cruel sense of humor that Ranma, for whom Ukyo threw away her femininity, would be cursed to remain as a woman. Was it some sort of sign? It wasn't going to stop her at least: she'd come too far to give Ranma up to the fickle whims of a magic puddle. If she had to throw herself into the counterpart of Ranchan's spring to even out the karmic scales she'd do it.
Especially since Akane and Shampoo probably already knew about the situation. Ukyo figured the first person Ranma talked to was that cranky old lady who ran the Nekohanten, Cologne, which meant Shampoo — Cologne's great-great-granddaughter — knew about it too. Ukyo wasn't sure what she could bring to the table as an okonomiyaki chef — other than okonomiyaki, of course — but she would do whatever she could to help.
Meanwhile, despite her life getting flip-turned upside-down, Ranma decided to focus on something she could control: figuring out her new teacher's ki-draining technique. Never had Ranma encountered anything like it, and that got her mind racing. Especially after being humiliated in front of her friends and the Principal, she couldn't let herself get caught by Hinako's attack again.
There was something vaguely familiar about the teacher's ki, though Ranma couldn't place it. Granted, she got dizzy trying to string two sentences together, so reverse engineering a martial art technique she'd only been hit by twice was maybe more than she could handle.
Fortunately, fate threw her a bone. A high-pitched ruckus erupted from the grounds: "You dirty old man!"
Happosai.
Ranma groaned but pushed herself to her feet, swooning from the quick movement. She joined the other gawkers at the balcony to see the old pervert fleeing from a gaggle of furious girls. The only strange thing about the scene was that he was wearing a diminutive boy's uniform.
"Ho! A delinquent!" Their teacher gasped before throwing herself off the balcony. "You there! Stop this instant!"
"Oh come on!" Ranma instinctively hoisted herself up the handrail…then remembered that Miss Hinako was a martial artist herself. Ranma didn't need to get involved. Yet. However, still being drained from the girlwoman's attack Ranma couldn't stop herself from tumbling over the rail anyway.
"Ranma!" Akane shouted and leapt as well. Ranma swore under her breath: the last thing she wanted was for more people to think she was weak! Well…okay, she was technically weak at the moment, but that was temporary! She assumed.
Oh it had better be temporary and not another Weakness Moxibustion scenario.
"No!" Ryoga leapt at the same time as Akane, or at least just after her. At that, Ranma's eyes went wide: what was the idiot doing, did he want everybody to know? Akane grabbed Ranma and Miss Hinako, then Ryoga grabbed all three of them. It was a ridiculous sight.
"You didn't both need ta jump!" Ranma managed to grouse before Ryoga slammed into the ground, bouncing on something soft.
"Yeah!" Akane shouted.
"None of you should have jumped: I'm the teacher and I'll deal with the delinquent!" Miss Hinako scolded the lot of them.
"But…er…mmmrrrr…" Ryoga mumble-growled in response to the combined browbeating.
The delinquent in question was wheezing in a hole in the ground after the girls that had been chasing him viciously retrieved their stolen goods, confident that justice was served. But Happosai heaved himself up and glared.
"Why…are you always…ruining…my…fun!?" Battle ki surged out from him in waves as it swelled and twisted into a wretched, worm-like shape. "I've had it with your meddling!"
"Students should behave!" Hinako dashed forward and repeated her mantra. Ranma studied her movements and paid special attention to the teacher's hands. A now-familiar flash of light absorbed Happosai's aura like a sponge and Ranma felt a smug sense of schadenfraude as the old pervert collapsed in a heap in front of Miss Ninomiya. She triumphantly crushed the "master" under her heel.
Ranma still didn't understand exactly how she pulled it off, but at least she got a chance to see the motions.
The next few classes went by uneventfully. Ryoga was fine with that: he hadn't been to school in a few years, if he was gonna catch up to his peers he needed a distraction-free environment to focus. Then the bell rang and Ranma roughly grabbed his wrist.
"C'mon, gotta get ya to the locker room…" He could tell she wasn't fully recovered, but her fingers were vice-like. Briefly he worried that she'd be in the room with him and all the other boys. It would make sense — she was a boy after all — but she was unable to physically become a boy and was still weak.
"Are you…gonna go in like that?" He ventured, knowing full well she might snap.
"Like…? Oh, nah, gonna use the nurse's office. Been doin' that since swim days." Her thoughts were elsewhere, which was either good or bad for Ryoga. They didn't speak again until she deposited him in front of a door other boys were entering. Most of them eyed Ranma as she approached, a mix of lustful hunger, innocent curiosity, ignorant bafflement, and a few instances of concern. A lot of eyes were on their hands.
"Here's yer stop, see ya outside." Ranma unceremoniously let him go and walked past the open door. A few groans of disappointment sounded out of the room but she paid them no heed. That just left Ryoga to do something he hadn't done in over three years: get changed for gym.
Not that the mob of boys made it easy. As soon as he walked through the door he was surrounded on all sides by fellow students, some of whom he recognized, most he didn't. They all had one thing on their mind: him and Ranma.
"Did he lead you here by the hand?"
"Are you dating?"
"I thought you hated him!"
"Are you dating?"
"You tried to kill him the first time you showed up, didn't you?"
"Are you dating?"
"Have you seen her naked?"
"Are you two dating!?"
"Nonsense!" A booming voice silenced the room, more out of exasperation than intimidation. "The pigtailed girl loves only one man: me! Kuno Tatewaki!" The second year puffed out his chest and raised his bokuto. Ryoga wondered if Kuno recognized him or not since he still didn't understand Ranma's curse.
Then he realized everyone was staring at him.
"W-what? We're…we're not a couple!" Ryoga protested, and most of the boys grumbled disappointedly. Kuno just grinned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I would be inclined to believe you…if not for the way she led you here by the hand!" The upperclassman lunged forward, swinging his wooden blade surprisingly fast. Ryoga dodged once, twice, three times as boys scattered away from Kuno's wide arcs.
However, Ryoga quickly understood that Kuno was used to fighting Ranma. Sure, there was power behind his strikes, but Ryoga's flesh was stronger than stone. Before the fight could go on even a second longer Ryoga stepped into an overhead strike and couldn't help but flash a fanged smile as the bokuto splintered against his forehead.
The room went still as every boy froze, even the teacher stopped mid-stride on his way to break up the fight.
"I'm not Ranma." Was all Ryoga said before slipping around the stunned Kuno and headed to his locker. He wasn't sure exactly what Kuno's issue was, he'd only met the guy a few times, but he hoped he'd think twice before pulling a stunt like that again.
"Uhhhh…okay guys, show's over!" The teacher composed himself and barked an order to the room. "Let's see some hustle!"
Conversation resumed as the students unfroze, Ryoga grateful that they were giving him a wide berth. For the most part anyway.
As he finished lacing up his shoes the black-haired guy from that morning sidled up next to Ryoga, followed by the one with curly brown hair.
"Pretty sure you just made an enemy of Kuno, yanno?" The black-haired one said.
"Eh, we've fought before, I'm not worried…" Ryoga tried to remember the boy's name. "…Yoshi Daisuke, right?"
"Yoshihiko Shingo." He replied matter-of-fact.
"And I'm Ito Kiichi!" The boy Ryoga thought was named Hiroshi. "We're Ranma's friends."
Ryoga thought he knew everyone Ranma knew and wasn't totally convinced they were actually friends, but Ranma'd been at the school for most of a year already while Ryoga mostly got lost. They did seem very familiar with Ranma a few hours earlier.
"Well. Thanks for the warning." Ryoga started for the door.
"So what's up with you and Ranma exactly?" Kiichi persisted. Ryoga didn't understand why everyone was so curious. Surely they were used to all the weirdness that surrounded Ranma by now.
"I'm still his rival, but until he gets turned back into a guy Mr. Tendo decided to adopt me so he could pass on his dojo to a male heir." He gulped. Technically everything he just said was the truth.
"Sure is nice of you not to try and kill him after all these months." Shingo leaned in conspiratorially. "Sudden change of heart?"
Ryoga froze. Flashes of their fight at Mt. Horai played out in his head. The look on Ranma's face when Ryoga surfaced from the ground holding a smashed and useless Kettle of Liberation. That pause was enough to give the other boys the wrong impression, however.
"Oooh, you like her don't you?" Kiichi jeered. Ryoga snapped back to the present, heat rising in his cheeks.
"What? No!" Memories of being taunted in middle school crept into his subconscious for an instant before he sent them back to the shrouded depths. It was the embarrassment that made him blush, but unbeknownst to him Shingo and Kiichi believed it was something else.
"Okay man, no worries." Shingo clapped his shoulder and jogged away.
"See you on the field!" Kiichi nodded and followed.
Ryoga shook his head and sauntered out into the crisp January air. High school wasn't gonna be any better than middle school after all.
Akane wasn't sure why she felt responsible for Ranma. Maybe she was worried something bad would happen with the other girls, especially since Ranma seemed weak since his meeting with the principal. She needed to make sure he didn't say something stupid, or give people the wrong idea. Most importantly she had to pretend her life hadn't gone topsy-turvy. Part of that just meant sticking by his side.
She was already stretching out on the field when the boys started trickling out of their locker room. Ryoga's bandana was impossible to miss, especially since the other boys were giving him a lot of extra space. He must have done something to scare them.
As she started a warmup jog she couldn't help but dwell on the current situation. Two months ago she wouldn't have thought that about Ryoga. But two months ago he wasn't her brother. And he'd almost ruined her friendship with Ranma with that weird fishing rod. How far back did his feelings go? She'd had to recontextualize the two boys' entire relationship and what she knew about them. At least she didn't have to worry that Ranma felt the same way.
"Akane! Is it true?" A familiar voice called out.
"Oh. Hi Tomoyo, hi Noriko." Her two closest school friends: Tomoyo with her dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail, and Noriko with her yellow bow and long, light brown hair. She slowed down enough that her they could comfortably talk and keep pace with her. "Is what true?"
"About Ryoga and Ranma!" Tomoyo shrieked.
"Are they really a couple?" Noriko exclaimed.
Akane sighed. It was inevitable that this kind of rumor would get started. While she didn't want to embarrass her new brother, she had to make sure people understood what was going on. So long as she didn't let on too much.
"Ryoga likes Ranma, sure, but—" she wasn't able to finish as her least favorite fellow student appeared out of nowhere like he normally did.
"Akane Tendo!" Kuno shouted through a megaphone. Fortunately it wasn't at her, but unfortunately he'd wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She felt her blood begin to boil. "'tis serendipitous that we meet 'neath the clear winter sun, as snow and ice begins to thaw and make way for the spring blossoms."
"It's not that weird to meet during gym." Noriko deadpanned.
"And it's gonna snow again soon." Tomoyo nodded.
"Upperclassman, can I help you?" Akane asked through gritted teeth.
"Alas! While Ranma Saotome's vile influence no longer afflicts the pigtailed girl her new tormentor presents a novel obstacle. While I will doubtless vanquish him in due time it means I shall devote my attention wholly and faithfully to you until—"
Akane didn't let him finish and sent him flying into the stratosphere with a self-righteous kick. "I don't want your attention!" She screamed. A futile gesture, perhaps, but she was having a bad couple of weeks.
"Wow! Ryoga must like Ranma a lot if he's fighting Kuno over her."
"Especially since she seems kinda weak right now. Just look at her!" Noriko pointed, drawing Akane's attention to the way the girl in question was jogging around the track. Noriko was right: even at a distance Akane could see that Ranma was panting even though Gosunkugi passed him.
Hopefully that was just due to his run in with the new teacher earlier and he'd regain his strength before long. Akane didn't know what it would do to his ego if he got stuck as a girl and weak.
"He'll be okay." Akane said reassuringly, more for her own benefit than her friends'.
Ranma wasn't okay. The day had been one embarrassing spectacle after another, and it wasn't even lunch yet! Ranma wished he could just go home but the trip to Mt. Horai ate weeks out of his attendance record already. If he wasn't being forced to attend he'd probably be on the road looking for a way to unlock the curse and not even have had to deal with energy draining teachers. But then he didn't have any leads anyway, other than waiting around for a call or visit from Prince Herb with news about a cure.
No, he was stuck at school figuratively and metaphysically. Maybe when the summer break rolled around he'd have time to travel but…well he hoped he wouldn't still be locked in six months anyway.
One of the other boys shoulder-checked him and nearly sent him sprawling. His breath was too labored to work up an insult so he just drifted off the track and took another break. It was so embarrassing! He was Ranma Saotome, but Miss Ninomiya left him as weak as an elementary school student.
"Hi Saotome!" A familiar voice called out to him. Hiroko, one of Akane's friends. She'd let her hair grow out a little since he'd last seen her, but it was still shorter than Akane's and she had even more freckles than he remembered.
"H-hi Ikutsuki-san." He panted and gave her a half-hearted wave.
"So how are you doing? Lots of excitement today. How've you been holding up?" Her chipper smile kept Ranma from getting too annoyed.
"Not great! I'm exhausted," he weakly shrugged, "but I'm gonna be back to normal by tomorrow I think." Especially once he figured out Miss Ninomiya's technique.
"Not that, about you and Ryoga."
Despite his fatigue, Ranma stopped breathing. His heart pounded in his chest and he swore he could hear a high pitched whine in the air. Later he'd look back at this moment and decide it was the stress and energy drained state he was in that impaired his judgement.
"Me an' Ryoga? Who told you?" Sweat started running down his face.
"We overheard some of the boys talking about what he said in the locker room, and Akane confirmed it!"
Hiroko had seen Ranma in a number of emotional states, and the martial artist wore their heart on their sleeve. She'd seen Ranma concerned, embarrassed, determined, sheepish, giddy, mournful, confused, stumped, annoyed, and even frustrated. She'd never seen such incandescent fury on someone else's face before as Ranma swept her gaze across the field until spotting her targets: Akane and Ryoga.
Once he'd laid eyes on his target Ranma forgot his exhaustion and sprinted towards them with an unearthly bellow. "WHAT THE HELL?!" The entire school went silent. Not out of fear.
Anticipation.
The nosy teen and adult inhabitants of Furinkan High School sensed the inclement drama like cold wind before a summer storm. Ranma and Akane were chaos magnets and after weeks of the former's absence the gossip-hungry busybodies smelled a feast coming.
"You couldn't even last a single day?!" Ranma howled as she approached, startling the Tendos with her intensity. "When this happened to Akane 'n me it was Nabiki's fault, an' then the two of you blab about it as soon as I ain't in the room with you?"
"What are you talking about?" Akane gasped as an accusatory finger poked against her forehead.
"You jus' couldn't wait to tell everyone, could ya? Couldn't wait ta let 'em know!" Ranma spat his accusation.
"Ranma calm down, I didn't — we didn't say anything!" Ryoga tried to divert Ranma's attention away from Akane.
"And you!" She whirled on him and immediately he regretted saying anything. "What did you even get outta it? Bragging rights? Pissin' contest with Kuno? Jus' wanted to seem cool?"
At that point Akane realized what was about to happen and tried to stop it. "Ranma, wait, nobody knows what you're taking about—"
"You're right they don't, because it's a pack of lies!" Ranma turned to address the sizable audience, none of whom were trying to hide their curiosity. "It's temporary, ya hear me?! Once I'm a guy again I ain't gonna be engaged to Ryoga anymore!"
The only sound after Ranma's echoes faded was the slow chuckle coming from the far corner of the field. Nabiki was hanging out with her friends, the three of them enjoying an uncharacteristic bout of generosity from the middle Tendo sister with a pile of snacks. Like most of the student body they were shocked by what they'd just heard, and it was Nabiki's steadily escalating cackle that snapped them out of it.
Then the crack of Akane's palm against her forehead and the desperate cry from her new brother. "Wh-why did you say that?!" He shouted at Ranma, who slowly pieced together why exactly everyone was stunned.
Wide-eyed, she slowly turned back to Ryoga. "Y-y-you mean…they didn't know?"
With that the spell was broken and a flood of students flowed to the center of the field, desperate for answers.
"Ranma does this mean you like guys?"
"Wait so is that why Ryoga's a Tendo now?"
"I knew it: you are dating!"
"I'll have your head for this Tendo Ryoga!"
Nabiki's friends, meanwhile, stared at the girl rolling on the grass clutching her sides, crying and barely able to breathe for her uproarious laughter. "Hahahahahaha! He paid — ahahahahahah — he paid me so much — bwahahahahah — 5,000 yen not to say anything!"
After six weeks starved for drama and shenanigans from the Saotome and Tendo households, the students of Furinkan finally had their feast.