Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all it’s characters and quoted events are property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz video. This story is intended for free distribution amongst its fans.

Chapter Two

By Michael Fetter

Isn’t it strange that a gift could be an enemy?

Isn’t it weird that a privilege could feel like a chore?

Maybe it’s me, but this line isn’t going anywhere,

Maybe if we look hard enough, we could find a backdoor.

I see you in line, dragging your feet

You have my sympathy.

The day you were born, you were born free

That is your privilege.

-Incubus, "Privilege"

It had been quite a night. After hours of dancing, intermixed with moments of relaxation on the upper platform, shared snacks and drinks, and the quick breathers outside, Akane and Ranma had returned to the dojo. Both felt the late hour of exhaustion weighing upon them.

Asleep in her bed, Akane was feeling the pleasant relief in her muscles as she settled within the blankets and pillows. The stuffed animals had been knocked to the ground as she wearily fell into a blissful sleep. It was short-lived as the dawning sun peeked beyond the distant mountains and through her curtains to cross, unerringly, over her eyes. She shrank away from the terrible intrusion, distaste for the normal day consuming her rebellious mind that craved unconsciousness.

Akane started with the sound of someone screaming. She was breathing hard and looking about her room for the source. It shook her body again, more screams from the back yard. She caught a quick glimpse of their guests jumping about the koi pond and dropped herself back onto her pillow. "Oh, just a few more minutes." She pleaded against the battle cries.

The noise continued though Akane tried to shield herself with pillows and blankets. Blearily she wondered how Ranma could even think of sparring so early in the morning after the night they had. Even if it had been fun this was uncalled for. "Damn, doesn’t he get tired?" She asked herself, watching the pigtailed boy in last nights clothes sparring with his father.

A moment later he was a she and Akane took some satisfaction in that after getting a good look at the heavy bags under the redhead’s eyes. "Guess so." Sighing, Akane left the window and headed for the furo for a soothing soak. "Might as well get ready for school."

The cold water helped Akane to rouse herself completely. She looked as good as Ranma-chan did this morning. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and there were blue rings beneath to match the sluggish feeling. Her arms and legs were still sore, even her back was suffering from the angles Ranma had made her bend to while on the dance floor.

Ranma was something, Akane thought with a private smile. The boys at high school had trapped Akane in a long loop of emotional abuse as it came to relationships and it put her off most of the time. Ranma had made her feel free again. There had been times, over a year ago, when she’d felt sort of like this. Akane hadn’t gone on dates really; they were group things so it didn’t count, but she hadn’t felt so closed off to the world.

On the dance floor he moved like a snake, wrapping about her body in so many sensual ways, but never taking advantage, simply being. Despite the closeness that would normally seem perverted, Akane had felt safe to enjoy herself within Ranma’s grasp. There was something in his strength and honest nature that made her forget her problems. She’d danced, grinding, rolling, and bumping like everyone else, and most amazingly, she’d smiled the whole time.

"Oh, hey, Spunky."

Akane froze in the furo. The female voice had taken her by surprise, breaking into her thoughts that had begun to turn to the boy, or girl in this case, that had just walked in.

Turning sharply, a hand over her breasts and a scowl on her face, Akane raged, "Pervert!"

Ranma-chan arched an eyebrow and looked down at her female body and over to Akane. "You’re kiddin, right?"

"Get out of here, you hentai!" Akane screamed, hurling a bottle of shampoo for good measure.

Ranma-chan ducked and picked her towel back up. "It ain’t like you got somethin I ain’t seen before. Besides, I can see myself naked anytime" She spat angrily at Akane while dodging other bathing implements. "and I’m better built to boot." Ranma finished with an open stance and throwing a hand behind her head to push out her chest.

This had the result of having Akane jump out of the furo and chase her cursed fiancé out of the bathroom while swinging a sizeable mallet.

~

The walk to school was quiet and warm. A few clouds floated overhead, but no rain was forecasted so umbrellas had been neglected. Ranma had tried several times to make some conversation, but Akane had remained silent, staring at the pavement beneath her feet. Occasionally, she stole glances at the pig-tailed martial artist, but had to look away. Ranma seemed to have no quaffs with staring.

"Stop it." Akane finally said.

Jumping down from the fence, Ranma stood before her. "What’s that?"

"Stop it." She said again.

"Stop what?"

"Staring at me." Akane growled and walked around him.

Undeterred, Ranma kept pace at her side, blatantly staring right at her. "You’re not like other girls, you know that?"

"Is that supposed to be a pick-up line."

Ranma thought about it and finally nodded. "To most." He draped an arm over her shoulder as they walked. "Come on, Spunky. What’s wrong? No good morning kiss?"

"Shut up!" Akane swung her school bag, but Ranma dodged out of the way. She continued to stomp down the street, glaring at the ground.

"Ah, man." Ranma moaned.

"What now?" Akane asked in exasperation. She needed some time to herself. There were things she needed to work out and Ranma was so far in the center of it all that it was giving her a headache. He was a rude, egotistical, arrogant, perverted, jerk, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had had so much fun.

Ranma stood on the sidewalk, holding up her pants and ringing out the excess water. A little old lady beside her excused herself, her sidewalk washing chores finished.

Frowning, Akane watched the little redhead attempting to dry herself up. "We can get some hot water from Dr. Toufuu’s."

"Why bother." Ranma-chan frowned and cinched her pants about her waist. "I’ll just get wet again in school. I think it’s part of the curse."

Akane stared at the cursed martial artist for a moment then frowned and turned away. If Ranma wanted to be a pervert then that was fine so long as he didn’t include her.

At the gates of the school they were met by a crowd of people, girls and boys, having a loud discussion. Akane blinked in confusion and started working her way through. Ranma hung around the edges to listen in on some of the conversations.

Arriving at the front doors, an older boy wearing a hakima and bokken stepped out of the crowd to stand before her, waving a pamphlet in her face. "Oh, sweet Akane, tell me now that this travesty is false! I shall destroy this peasant who tempts to defile thee!"

"Good morning, Kuno-sempai." Akane drawled and caught up the pamphlet in his hand. She gave it a cursory glance and was snarling by the time that she reached the end. "Nabiki."

"Yes, your mercenary sister doth sell these lies." Grabbing Akane up into a strong embrace, Kuno continued to stare into the distance. "But I know you would not forsake our love. We, who were preordained by-"

"Pervert!" Akane roared at the disappearing speck in the sky. Still frowning, Akane sought out Ranma-chan in the crowd to see if she had discovered these engagement announcements as well.

"Oh, yeah. I know him." A crowd of girls was forming around someone. "He is a real hunk. This fiancée thing is just temporary." The girls squealed in excitement and started shouting out questions. "I’ll tell ya what. Give me yer numbers and I’ll make sure he gets’em."

Torn scraps of notebook paper were being tossed around like confetti.

Screaming in frustration, Akane turned and stomped into the school.

~

"Class." The teacher began, sitting at his desk and gesturing to a new student at the front. It wasn’t necessary while all the boys were drooling over her and the girls seemed between jealousy and friendship because of ‘Ranma-chan’s’ help to get Ranma-kun. "This is our new student, who just recently returned from a trip to China. Would you please introduce yourself, young lady?"

"Yes sir." Ranma-chan bowed to the class. "My name is Saotome Ranma and I’m the heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

"That’s funny." The teacher looked over his clipboard. "It says you’re supposed to be a boy. Must be a typo." He rubbed at it with his pencil and made a new marking. "Would you please take the seat next to Tendou Akane by the window."

Smiling, Ranma-chan sauntered over to her seat, dragging everyone’s eyes along with her as she swayed her hips. As she sat down Akane openly glared at her and seemed ready to shout. "No talking." Ranma put her finger on Akane’s lips and pointed her to the front of the class. "The teacher is beginning his lesson."

The teacher blinked and went to the board. It seemed Ranma was going to be a very good student. Why couldn’t they all be like her?

~

In another classroom, Nabiki was pouring over the profits of this mornings’ pamphlet sale.

Walking down the row of seats, Tatewaki Kuno pushed passed other students until he stood before Nabiki’s desk, his hakima and bokken replaced with the normal school uniform. "Nabiki Tendou. I would speak with thee."

Waiting a few moments to finish her count, Nabiki let Kuno stew for a moment to be sure he knew who was in control; it was a relationship Nabiki was proud of. "I suppose I have the time, Kuno-baby."

Tatewaki paused to glare at the middle Tendou sister for the abuse of his name. "I despise you."

"You don’t exactly rank up there on my list of favorites either." She smirked and pulled a group of photos from her bag. "Here you go, five shots of Akane, three thousand yen."

Kuno stared at the pictures hungrily and dug through his pocket for the wallet. "Deal!" He slapped down the requested amount and snatched up the pictures in the same movement. "Such ferocity. Such power."

Believing their business concluded, Nabiki went back to her own musings until she realized that Kuno had not moved. "I truly came to speak of this new girl I am told had caught the fancy of many of my fellow students."

Again, Nabiki smirked. "I was hoping you’d find out." she brought out another group of pictures with a busty redhead in some more revealing poses, each highlighting the girl’s cleavage and trim waist. "Five shots, five thousand yen."

He was transfixed to the images laid out before him. Kuno didn’t even realize he had paid before picking the pictures up to examine them more closely, a bit of drool running from his lips. "Such an uninhibited creature. So beautiful and demure. I must have her."

"Guess you’ll be giving up on Akane then?" Nabiki didn’t much care for Kuno except that he paid a ridiculous amount of money for pictures of Akane. She’d realized that once word got around about Ranma’s female half, Kuno would be even more hooked.

"Give up?"

Nabiki’s smile faded as she stared at the kendoist. "You aren’t planning to two-time her."

"Never. What would you call a man so captivated with such love that his heart swells to encompass those he would share it with?"

"I call it two-timing." Nabiki turned her back on the pompous shmuck as he walked out of the classroom like he was above everyone else.

~

As the day progressed, Ranma was given a growing stack of books, which she took to immediately. The first class had gone over math. At almost every turn Ranma-chan was raising her hand and asking questions then making some marks on a piece of paper. The teacher was characteristically thrilled that anyone was asking him a question no matter how behind they seemed. He must have rationalized that she hadn’t gotten much of an education in China, Ranma figured.

A year ago she might never have cared to open a schoolbook or pay attention to class because she was training to be a martial artist. It was this nice girl Ranma had met before the curse who had taken pity on him. She took him away from a group of kids discussing something he hadn’t followed and sat down with him at a table. Meeting her pretty smile and friendly attitude Ranma had been hooked by the things she said. It didn’t hurt that her final argument was that smart guys are really sexy.

By the time class was over Ranma had worked through the first chapter, having another five to go in order to catch up. It seemed hard at first until he started understanding the pattern of things. Math and a lot of his other subjects began to parallel martial arts. There were rules and katas to learn by and from there on you used the basics on the real problems, just like preparing for a sparring match. This was going to take time to master, Ranma acquiesced, but nothing could stop the great Saotome Ranma once she set her mind on something.

"Psst." Ranma whispered and poked Akane in the ribs. "Spunky."

"What?" The girl growled.

"Can I borrow some paper?"

Clenching her teeth, Akane looked back to her book. "You’ve already borrowed a dozen sheets."

"But I need it for the notes." Ranma-chan whimpered.

Akane turned away. "Too bad."

"Miss Tendou? Was there something you wanted to share with the class?" The teacher asked.

"What?!" She looked up quickly to see the teacher staring directly at her. Ranma was already back in her book. "No, sensei. It’s just that-"

"Maybe you should go stand out in the hall and let Miss Saotome try to learn the material." The teacher suggested, pointing at a pair of buckets beside the door.

Sighing, Akane rose under the watching eyes of her classmates. The door clicked back into place as she left. The teacher resumed his lesson soon thereafter.

Ranma stole a few sheets of paper off of Akane’s desk and continued her own studies.

~

In most classes Ranma was struggling to understand the things he missed while on the training trip with his father. Science and math just weren’t covered in all those katas he learned. After a while, the reading and writing had started to give him a headache. He was glad when it finally ended up being time for gym class. Here he excelled, didn’t have to think too hard, and could get all the attention he wanted. Showing off was fun; it got the girls if you weren’t a complete ass about it.

At the beginning of the period he’d attempted to enter the girls’ locker room, but recalled the scene Akane had made at home and looked for a hot water tap in the janitor’s closet.

Ending a gymnastics routine on the high bar, Ranma flipped several times before landing with simple grace on the floor, feet planted firmly together, arms outstretched. There was a loud applause that he held on to for a moment while looking about his fellow classmates. Ranma walked to his seat before it tapered off and sat down to watch other students. The girls were off on the next field, playing softball.

Sitting back to watch Akane in the outfield, Ranma sensed two boys walk up and sit down beside him. "Hey, you’re Akane’s fiancé, aren’t you?" The first asked.

"Yeah, that’s me." Ranma nodded, though his thoughts of staying engaged to Akane were being strained by her standoffish attitude.

"I’m Hiroshi and this is Diasuke." The first, Hiroshi, was sort of scrawny, no real muscle, and short neat hair. Diasuke had a goofy grin on his face as he watched the girls playing.

"Hey." Ranma nodded in recognition.

"So, tell us, man. Have you made out with her yet?" Hiroshi continued, a conspiratorial whisper as he made sure no one else could hear.

Ranma nodded. "Sure."

". . ." The two paused to stare at Ranma like they hadn’t really expected an answer. Finally they both broke out of it. "REALLY?!"

"Really."

"Have you fucked her yet?" Diasuke asked with a bit of drool.

Ranma bristled slightly and glared at the two boys. "Now that’s just rude. Even if I did, why would I tell you?"

"Because no one has ever gotten anywhere with Akane." Hiroshi explained though he too looked at Diasuke with a little disapproval.

"No shit." Ranma deadpanned.

"So how’d you do it?" Diasuke urged the pig-tailed boy on.

"You want to know?" asked Ranma.

They nodded.

"You really want to know?" Ranma asked again, building up the suspense and the two boys nodded and leaned closer eager for the knowledge he would impart. "I asked and she said yes." Ranma said simply and the two fell onto the grass.

From the doors of the gym, a kendoist, bokken in hand, strode out to stand before them. He looked upon Ranma with fury in his eyes, making a show of his arrogant stance over the other. "At last, I have found you, you cur. Now you shall feel the might of Kuno for thinking to take the fair Akane Tendou from my grasp!"

"And you are?"

Raising his bokken high, Kuno began a litany of descriptors. "I am the Rising Star of the Kendo Club, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen."

Getting bored near the beginning, Ranma had turned back to Hiroshi and Diasuke. "So what’s she got against guys anyway?"

". . ." Kuno returned from his speech and blinked. People usually didn’t ignore him so blatantly. It was unheard of to think so low of such a terrible force of nature such as the Kuno master of Kendo.

Hiroshi looked between Ranma and Kuno cautiously before trying to explain. "Uhm, well, Kuno here started up a rally and told everyone to date her they got to beat her in a fight first."

"No other way is permissible. Now I shall cut you down for thinking so low of the Blue Thunder’s challenge!" Kuno charged, sword slashing in wide arcs that Ranma rolled away from until he was on his feet. Hiroshi and Diasuke scrambled away immediately, not having the inclination to be pummeled by the raving lunatic.

Ranma continued to float about Kuno’s attacks. If not for his constant training in the Dancer’s Fist, Ranma might have had the need to put a little more attention to his dodging, but as it was Ranma was getting bored. Taking only the most obvious opportunity to strike, Ranma lashed out just enough to taunt the boy, beating him would be just too easy.

On one strike Ranma brushed against the folds of Kuno’s kendo garb and something tumbled out. Blinking, Ranma twisted and snagged one of the paper squares from the ground to give it a look.

"Hey, what’s this?" Ranma before flipping the photo around.

Infuriated at Ranma’s inattention, Kuno growled and readied his most deadly move. "Dog! You dare look elsewhere in the middle of a duel? StrikeStrikeStrikeStrikeStrike!"

Hearing the sounds of battle, Akane had been attracted to the fight and was watching on the edges. She’d never seen Kuno go this hard in a fight before. Had he been holding back against her? His bokken began to blur and Akane gasped as she watched Ranma continue to look at something in his hand. "Ranma! Pay attention! Kuno can be very dangerous!"

"Mind your own business, Spunky!" Ranma shot back, though he was slightly impressed that Kuno had something like this tucked away in his arsenal. He contorted his body while in the air.

On accident, one slash caught a few strands of Ranma’s hair. Startled, Ranma narrowed his eyes and shot into Kuno’s defenses. Ranma’s foot blurred across the kendoist’s face and body.

Seeing the upperclassman collapse onto the ground, Akane jogged up to Ranma who was picking up more things from the ground. "What are you looking at anyway?" She looked over his shoulder to see pictures of herself, nothing revealing really, but it was enough to know Kuno had them to get Akane angry. "Nabiki." She growled.

Nodding, Ranma fished up the rest of pictures. "There’s some of me too. Guess he’s not totally blind." He smirked and ran off before Akane could respond.

"Where are you going?!"

Ranma continued off, unhearing.

Huffing, Akane looked back to the unconscious boy and on impulse turned him over. She gasped upon finding a dozen footprints over the weaker spots of the body. That must have hurt.

~

The first day of school had gone by fairly smoothly considering Ranma’s sudden change of sex and resistance to change back. No one had suspected there being a problem, except for the morning pamphlet sale by Nabiki.

Akane was still confused by her ‘fiance’. Ranma didn’t treat her any more special than the others and in some instances he was a complete jerk. Case in point, Ranma was at the moment walking home from school on the fence with a handful of phone numbers. "Would you put those away already? You’re supposed to be my fiancé."

Licking her fingertips and passing over a few more numbers, Ranma-chan shrugged. "So? Aren’t ya lucky to have such a sexy fiancé."

"Men aren’t supposed to be sexy." Akane growled, with some hint of jealousy.

"Doubly lucky then." The redhead smirked and stuffed the numbers in her pocket.

Turning away, Akane tried to walk away faster with her head turned. "You can go and marry one of those girls for all I care."

"Yeah, like I want ta marry’em." Ranma-chan snorted.

"Well, you aren’t marrying me. I don’t care what our fathers say." Akane pressed, forgetting she was supposed to be ignoring Ranma for being a jerk.

"Duh."

"Well, if you cared so little why did you take me out last night!?" she screamed with indignation.

"I didn’t take you out. I let you tag along." Ranma supplied and kept walking as Akane came to a sudden halt. She was still a few meters back when Ranma-chan looked over her shoulder to see the slowly simmering girl.

"Tag along?" Akane spat. "What am I? A lost puppy?!"

Ranma-chan laughed and shook her head. "Nah. Puppies are nicer."

"Then why don’t you just leave me alone!" Akane screamed, balling her fists at her sides.

Shocking the girl by landing suddenly before her, Ranma-chan placed her hands in front of her chest and bowed, palms together. "Ah, so sorry, grasshopper. Your training is not yet finished." She imitated a bad Chinese accent. "You are like stone at bottom of river, unable to swim."

Akane blinked and then brought forth her rage once again. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?! And how did you know I couldn’t swim?!"

"Aww." Ranma smiled like she would to a child and patted Akane on the cheek. "Spunky is so cute when she’s angry."

"I’ll show you angry!" Akane growled and launched herself into a mallet attack that glowed red. Ranma-chan smirked and dodged under the hit and back onto the fence before taking off for the Tendou dojo at full tilt. "Get back here and take your beating!" Akane screamed in pursuit.

~

The sparring session had gone pretty well. Ranma toned down her skill level to give Akane a better work out. She could see from the match that Akane had a ways to go, but she had potential to be a great martial artist.

She’d helped her fiancée into the furo to relax in the warm water and left. Ranma was not nearly as tired as Akane was, and there was something she had to do before tonight. Ranma-chan made a quick stop in the room she and her father were sharing. She looked in the mirror to straighten out her hair and arrange her clothing. Picking up a stack of pictures, Ranma headed for Nabiki’s room.

Sneaking in had been easy with the middle daughter concentrating on a black ledger open on her desk. Ranma-chan tiptoed up to the girl and quickly wrapped her arms around Nabiki chest.

"Hiya, Nabiki-chan." Ranma-chan breathed huskily into the older girl’s ear.

Nabiki jumped slightly and quickly covered the ledger with her hands before flipping it shut. "Ranma!"

"Oh, baby." Ranma started to rub herself against Nabiki’s back. "I want you so bad."

Sensing the opportunity for a good photo shoot, Nabiki reached for her camera and swiveled around in her chair to watch Ranma edge to the bed. "Then strip." Nabiki said plainly.

"That’s right, Nabiki-chan." Ranma-chan enthused, rubbing herself with her hands. "Treat me like an object. Sell pictures of me to everyone to prove what a slut I am."

"What?" Nabiki blinked in momentary confusion. It was difficult to keep up with the way Ranma’s mind worked and at the moment it was unreadable.

Ranma continued to gyrate slowly on Nabiki’s bed. "How else could people see me? Just a whore to be owned and used."

"I never said that." Nabiki said quickly, feeling sick for even holding the camera all of a sudden.

"You didn’t have to say it. I can see it on the faces of all those boys who bought those pictures. They’ll look at them late at night and start jacking off, thinking what a perfect little cum slut I am." Ranma was really getting into it. She began to unbutton her shirt, but Nabiki rushed over quickly and refitted them.

Catching the older girl’s hands with her own, Ranma rubbed her cheek against Nabiki’s forearm in a way that made the girl blush at the innuendo Ranma was insinuating. "Who knows? Some of them may ask me to go home with them and I will because I’m a whore in their minds."

Pulling her hands away in revulsion, Nabiki began to back away. "No, th-they wouldn’t . . that’s not tr-"

Ranma-chan stood up to follow the girl to her desk. "Sluts. Whores. Fuck-tools. That’s what they’ll call us." Nabiki ran out of room and fell into her chair, staring fearfully at the redhead who licked her lips in a long sensuous motion.

"Us?" Nabiki’s lip was trembling.

"Your sister and me." Ranma-chan smiled. "Akane is so lucky. All those boys already think she’s just some object to be had. I can’t wait until they see me that way too."

Ranma-chan sat down on her knees and rested her head on Nabiki’s thigh, rubbing the other with her hands. "Akane and I will go down on our knees for everyone. We’ll be such perfect sluts."

The chair squeaked as Nabiki jerked at Ranma’s touch, unable to move her gaze from the redhead in her lap, the tongue again appearing on the cursed boy’s lips.

Feeling around in her pocket, Ranma-chan extracted a few shots and presented them for Nabiki’s inspection. By the look on her face, Ranma could tell the girl knew these were pictures of her in the locker room, and by her own Polaroid camera. Getting them had been difficult since Nabiki had gym at a different period than Akane and herself. "Look, you can join us too. With these pictures up on every wall of the school, we’ll be a perfect trio of whores. You, me, and Akane."

Nabiki was still looking at the pictures when Ranma began to talk again. The shots were a little fuzzy and the lighting wasn’t the best but they were most obviously of her. She felt disturbed, violated that someone had broken her privacy and wanted to use her in such a way. The images Ranma was conjuring were working over in her mind. She saw Akane with a leash around her neck, being led around the school by one boy or another, her face a look of mindless rapture. The image shifted to that of Ranma, lying on her back at somebody’s feet, massaging herself and licking her lips. And again, she was there, on her knees, with so many faceless people laughing and pointing at her.

Nabiki’s eyes were tearing, as she couldn’t get the images to leave her. Her little sister debased by a bunch of pathetic dweebs. She screamed. "Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP! Akane is not a whore!"

Ranma smiled and stood up, digging into her other pocket. "Glad you figured it out, Nabiki-chan." The set of pictures she’d picked up after the fight with Kuno were tossed into Nabiki’s face and landed all around the floor.

Seeing her point understood, Ranma headed for the door while Nabiki frantically scooped up all of the pictures. Nabiki hadn’t seemed to be the bad sort when they first met, but Ranma wouldn’t put up with someone using her in any way she didn’t want. "This was just a warning. The next time I go straight to the cops."

Ranma left Nabiki on the floor, sobbing quietly, to consider her next move, which Ranma hoped would be a smarter one.

~

"I can’t believe I went out with you again." Akane remarked from her seat inside the club. The place was dark and bright just like the other one had been, but the sound system was better and the room could hold more people. It helped that the performing band was someone Akane had heard of in discussions with friends. They weren’t half bad and kept up an energetic atmosphere.

Ranma sat across from Akane in a white T-shirt and slightly baggy pants that didn’t tapper off at the ankles. "Oh, you like me." Ranma gave Akane a cocky grin and bobbed his head in time with the music.

"You’re a jerk." Akane said resolutely and sipped from her drink. Her legs were crossed over at the knees and her foot bounced with the beat.

"You’re not so bad yourself, Spunky. Havin’ fun?" asked Ranma.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks." Akane smiled genuinely and followed Ranma’s gaze around the room. The faces were different, but it looked like the same chaotic sea of people on the dance floor. The bar area was nicer and with a larger selection of things to buy.

"Sure." Ranma nodded. "So what’s with your dad?"

"What?" Akane looked back to the pig-tailed martial artist and thought back to the last time that she’d seen her father. It was during dinnertime and he had been crying most of the time. Something about how happy he was to see his little girl respecting her father’s wishes. Akane wasn’t certain, but she thought she heard something about a ceremony and had gotten into an argument with Ranma on general principles. That had started a fight, sort of, and she got knocked around the dojo a little more.

Fights with Ranma were fairly one-sided except when he was trying to make her mad. Akane figured that one out after this afternoon when he goaded her into fighting to help train her.

This time, however, she had yelled and Ranma had only watched her in amusement. The smug smile got her even madder and she chased him out of the room and into the dojo. Looking back on it, Akane figured he had led her there to minimize damage and to help her deal with the frustration along with escaping her father’s presence. The thoughtless thoughtfulness was probably what made Akane decide to go out with Ranma again.

"He sorta emotional." She smiled weakly to which Ranma shrugged and studied the band.

"Sorry about that."

"Oh, shit."

Akane looked back to see Ranma-chan wiping at her shirt which had a large wet spot on it. She spotted the man who must have spilled it on her continuing down the way and beyond hearing Ranma’s curses. Frowning at the way the wet spot helped outline her breast through the thin material, Ranma stood up and started heading to a corner of the room. "I gotta go clean up real quick."

Akane nodded and finished her drink. She looked back up to see Ranma heading off to the left where a neon sign was glowing green to announce the bathroom being for ladies. Jumping out of her seat, Akane rushed over to catch Ranma-chan just before she entered the door. "Where’re you going?"

"Bathroom." Ranma pointed to the black door.

"But that’s the girls’ bathroom." Akane hissed at her.

With mock-amazement, Ranma looked at the door, "My god you’re right!" and continued to walk in.

"You can’t be in here." Akane hissed in Ranma’s ear.

"Sure I can. I’m a girl aren’t I?" Ranma asked, still cleaning the spot on her shirt with water.

"No." Akane almost screamed at the half-naked girl.

Ranma quirked and eyebrow. "Really? Well, gee. I guess these are just some water balloons." She said, hefting her two large tits for Akane’s inspection.

"Stop that." Akane blushed and looked away.

Pulling the shirt back over her head, Ranma began to speak her next social lesson to the young Tendou. "Look, Akane. I couldn’t go into the guys’ bathroom if I wanted to. Can you imagine what those perverts might do to a young, healthy girl in the beginnings of her sexuality like myself?"

There was a small crash from one of the stalls and two girls stuck their heads out to get a look at the redhead posing for the blue-haired girl beside the sink.

Akane must have seen them because a blank look crossed her face before the two girls smiled back and returned to their activities within the stall. She turned a bright red and sputtered for something to say when she returned to the giggling Ranma still pressing her breasts against the strained T-shirt.

"Oh, Akane, you need to lighten up. Things aren’t so black and white as you’d like to think." Ranma remarked while twisting the front of her shirt.

"What are you doing now?" Akane asked.

"Sexyin’ up." The wide-leg jeans that fit Ranma-kun so nicely now sagged around Ranma-chan’s butt, displaying her boxers with red hearts. The sweaty T-shirt was pulled tight around her chest and knotted between her breasts so it revealed her flat tummy, belly-button, and trim waist.

". . ." Akane couldn’t help but think how lucky Ranma was to have such a ‘healthy’ body.

Ranma finished fixing her clothes and hair in the mirror and headed for the door to the bathroom. "Alright. Let’s go."

"B-But you’re still a girl." Akane protested.

"Can’t put anythin past you, can I?" Ranma laughed and slipped out the door with a shocked Akane left to watch it swing closed.

~

Further into the night the songs seemed to get louder. Ranma-chan was too lost in the atmosphere to really care though. She raised her arms over her head and swayed her hips in opposition of her chest. The man she danced with seemed slightly taken aback by her grace and form and held a constant blush over his face. The one before him had been more receptive of Ranma’s posturing and rolled along with her as best he could.

There was something different and equally pleasurable about being a woman. Ranma had the opportunity to compare these feelings with her male side and yet she was still unsure of what exactly it was. She enjoyed the tingling feeling that crept across her arms and down her back that made her wiggle just a little more. The young man with her took notice and quickly clapped a hand over his nose and stumbled into a few more people.

This had long been taken as the sign that Ranma’s partner was done dancing and she was ready for a replacement. Ranma-chan just loved the men who waited all night to dance with her. They were usually the ones to buy her snacks and drinks when she wanted them.

Smiling as a new man came up to grab her about the waist and pull her in closely, Ranma made a quick glance around the area to see how Akane was doing. It had been an hour at least since she’d seen the girl.

A new song was beginning, as was her new partner. Ranma-chan began to move along with the young man automatically while she continued to scan the crowd. A part of her realized that the boy was trying to get fresh and that he wasn’t all that handsome. She pushed him away and left the dance floor. Ranma-chan had her ‘double standards’ after all.

The search around the dance floor was fruitless, as was the break area. Ranma-chan was starting to get slightly worried as she went through the bathroom and still came up empty.

Looking around for another ten minutes, Ranma-chan began to panic and rushed outside. She was calling out Akane’s name and asking people if they’d seen her. Then someone called out her name.

Ranma turned about quickly and exhaled in relief. Akane was sitting at a table with a soda in her hand. Ranma-chan felt some exasperation at the girl for not telling her when she’d gone outside. "Hey, what happened?"

"I, uh, got tired." Akane answered lamely while staring at the table.

Shaking her head, Ranma pulled up a seat and sat down beside the girl. "Alright. Can I get some o’that?"

"Sure." The soda was handed over and Ranma took a long, pleasant drink.

Handing the drink back, Ranma looked at Akane with a slight frown. Her heart was back to normal with the small crisis over with. "What’s really wrong? That guy do something you didn’t like?"

"No." Akane said meekly then looked up at Ranma-chan with a pained expression. "Can you turn back into a guy please?"

"Does this really bother you that much?" Ranma asked, slightly concerned, but for more selfish reasons this time. Inside the club, she and Akane had returned to the dance floor after the trip to the bathroom. They danced together for a moment, but Akane seemed more self-conscious about the whole thing and stuttered in her movements. When two guys came up to cut in, Akane didn’t look anymore relieved. Ranma-chan had hoped it was just an initial reaction to a stranger, and it seemed confirmed when Akane didn’t come after her immediately.

Hopping out of her chair, Ranma raised her arms and beckoned the other girl to do the same. "C’mere."

"What are you doing?" Akane asked though she was already following Ranma’s instruction.

"Just put your arms around me." Ranma commanded and placed her own arms around Akane’s neck. They weren’t very different in height while Ranma was in his cursed form, but the redhead still had to look up at the other girl.

". . ." Akane did as she was told with some confusion.

Ranma-chan effected a slightly pained smile and shifted a bit in Akane’s grasp. "Unless you’re thinkin of kneadin’ my tits you might want to put your hands on my waist. You’re bigger than I am right now."

Akane blushed and removed her elbows from digging into Ranma’s bigger chest. "This is stupid. Why are we doing this?" she asked, looking about for observers.

"Well, you are my fiancée so if we got married you’d have to be okay with me either way." Ranma flippantly remarked with an impish smile. Akane blanched and let go of the redhead quickly and took for her seat with Ranma still clinging to her arm. "Oh, come on. I’m just playin with ya." She coaxed Akane back out of her seat and back to where they had been holding each other. "I really wanted to know what you weren’t tellin me."

"What?"

Ranma-chan put her arms back around Akane’s neck as she felt the taller girl put hands on her hips. Without thinking about it they both began to sway slightly to the music that filtered through the club’s door. "If you weren’t comfortable with some other guy ya shoulda told me. It’s called bein safe. Shit, you think I didn’t get into trouble with some guy that didn’t feel right?"

"You shouldn’t feel right with any guy, Ranma." Akane said with a screwed-up look on her face.

"Hang out in places like this long enough and you won’t think so badly of it." Ranma chuckled.

"Hey cool! Chick action!" a man exclaimed as he strolled out of the club with a girl on his right arm and another man on his left.

"See what I mean?" Ranma smirked and hugged Akane tighter as she watched the trio move off with a twinkle in her eye.

Akane blanched. "You don’t mean . . ."

"Nah, I was never into guys, not while I was a guy anyway." Ranma-chan chuckled as Akane stiffened momentarily. The girl had yet to push her away and Ranma took this as a good sign. It was getting late, but neither of them were tired enough to go home for sleep. When their stomachs gurgled, the decision was made and Ranma pulled Akane to the exit. "You wanna get somethin to eat?"

". . ." Akane was still lost in the concept of Ranma’s complex sexual orientation that she did not fight the redhead from leading them to an all-night coffee shop next door.

~

It was a cool night as Ranma and Akane headed for home. In the late hour, stars were shining brightly despite the street lamps’ light. The world seemed to glow a faint yellow, the mist hanging above the ground like fuzz in the background of an old TV series.

The coffee was beginning to wear off around three in the morning as they decided to call it a night and catch a few hours of sleep. After the club, Akane had asked Ranma about her past relationships once their stomachs were mollified. She wasn’t sure if the conversation had been a mistake or not. Ranma certainly had a history, but they were all short and unromantic. This was mainly due to Ranma’s training trip, but the others were caused by ‘possessive bitches’, as Ranma characterized them. Akane wasn’t ready to trust the second part entirely, but didn’t comment all the same.

As they walked, Ranma scooted in and wrapped a slender arm around Akane’s waist and was pleased to see the girl just put an arm on her shoulder.

After some silence, Ranma-chan nudged the other girl with her head to get her attention. "You know, I don’t think you mind bein with a girl as much as you claim." Akane looked down at her and blinked. "Must be because of that fan club, huh?"

Scowling slightly, Akane huffed and looked away though she left her arm where it was. "I like men." Akane said firmly. "I just don’t like boys."

"Boys aren’t all that bad."

"They’re stupid, perverted jerks." Akane growled, the strength of her resolve showing in her grip on Ranma’s shoulder.

Wincing slightly, Ranma mentally reminded herself to work out as a girl a little more often. "The guys at high school aren’t exactly the representatives of every guy, y’know."

"Why not? What about you?!" Akane’s anger was rising quickly and she glared at the redhead.

"What? I’m nothin like those guys." Ranma-chan looked offended then flashed a cocky grin and squeezed Akane a bit tighter. "I’m also an arrogant hunk."

A porch light had been left on as they stepped up to the front door. Akane waited for Ranma to pull out the spare key from her pocket and let them in, but the redhead seemed to have other things in mind. Stealing herself a moment, Ranma looked at Akane, studying her eyes for some secret. When nothing came of it, she took a deep breath and leaned closer to Akane.

"What are you doing?" Akane backed her head away nervously as she watched the redhead lean in, placing a hand on either shoulder.

"It’s a date right? How about a goodnight kiss?" Ranma-chan made a little smile and stood up on the balls of her feet.

"I don’t-"

Wrapping her arms about Akane’s neck, Ranma dragged herself up to the other girl’s mouth. "No tongue, I promise."

Ranma did use her tongue as the kiss continued for a minute without a break on the horizon. As much as Akane did not think of herself as a lesbian, kissing Ranma-chan did not feel like the violation that everyone made it out to be. There was certainly the tableau, but maybe knowing Ranma’s body was just a curse helped her forget. Whatever it was, Akane’s first kiss and second date had surely been a few experiences not soon forgotten.

End Chapter Two

* * *

There were so many things I could do with this I wasn’t sure where to begin. There were ideas for dark fics but I’ve done plenty of those so here is a happier life for Ranma.

My thoughts on this story: it’s pretty dark in here . . . nevermind that, Akane really is finding a connection with Ranma. Obviously, with most boys she is rather . . ill-tempered, but here I see it as Akane getting the relationship she really wants though she might not have known it. Ranma is arrogant, but liberal, strong, yet pliable, and so far he has been giving her the attention she craved; someone to challenge and pleasure(emotionally, perverts) her.

Ja ne.