Here's Chapter 2, which has also gone to RAAC just recently. Then I
discovered FFML, so now it's here. Unlike chapter 1 this is not a lemon,
though future chapters may have mature themes and I may do a lemon SS or 2.
Anyway, enjoy reading, and C&C is always welcome, though I prefer private
response unless necessary. Hopefully Chapter 3 will be done by the end of
the month.
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Disclaimer: All characters within this fanfic belong to Rumiko
Takahashi. I lay no claim to them and use them without permission.
Please don't sue as I am a poor college student.
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< > indicates thoughts
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WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: After getting Ranma to admit his love for her,
Akane admitted to being a lesbian. She told Ranma that she liked him
as a person and was attracted to his female side, but she couldn't
remain in a relationship with him as long as he clung to his
manhood. She then challenged him to a sexual "contest". If he "won"
she would give up all claim on him and he could marry Shampoo or
Ukyou. If she "won" then Ranma would forsake his manhood to stay with
her. Akane "won." While ruminating on the nature of his curse,
Ranma came up with an idea to use his chi to lock himself in his
female body. It worked, though Ranma doesn't know for how long.
The night (and the first chapter) ended with Ranma and Akane falling
asleep while watching TV. It is now the morning after:
Chapter 2: Coming Out
Kasumi lightly grasped the shoulder of a sleeping onna-Ranma.
She shook it gently, calling softly, "Wake up Ranma."
Ranma didn't even stir.
Kasumi shifted her grip on Ranma's shoulder, lightly touching
a pressure point. Ranma's eyes popped open.
"Who! What! Where!"
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Ranma-chan."
"Oh! Ohayo Kasumi. Is it morning already?"
"Yes it is. I'm surprised you and Akane slept down here on the
sofa all night. Maybe you should wake her before the whole morning
is gone."
"Oh no! I forgot about my sparring session with oyaji."
"I wouldn't worry about it Ranma. Father and Mr. Saotome came
home very late last night. From what I can tell, they are both
still asleep in the dojo."
<Passed out more likely.> Ranma thought.
With a cheery smile Kasumi said, "Well, I'll be in the kitchen
preparing breakfast."
Ranma looked down at the sleeping form of Akane. She curled up
against Ranma, with her head pillowed on Ranma's breasts. <Aw, man!
If I wake Akane in this position she's gonna call me a pervert and
kill me.> Then Ranma remembered the previous night. Ranma's
admission of love. Akane's admitted sexual preference. The
"contest". Ranma's self-made "cure." And the two of them falling
asleep on the sofa. <I hope Akane remembers before she clobbers me.>
Ranma put her mouth close to Akane's ear and whispered, "Akane.
Time to wake up. It's morning." Akane stirred, but didn't wake up.
A mischievous smile crossed Ranma's face as an idea came to her.
Ranma's tongue snaked out, licking Akane's ear. Akane mumbled
something unintelligible and her hand swatted Ranma's face, but she
still slept. Ranma's smile increased as another idea came to her.
She gently maneuvered Akane's head off her breasts, careful not
wake her. Akane now lay face up in Ranma's lap. Leaning over, Ranma
planted her lips on Akane's in a passionate kiss. Still Akane didn't
stir, and Ranma thought <Man! Nothing wakes this girl.> Then, Akane
started to slowly respond to the kiss in kind. As Akane opened her
eyes, Ranma pulled away.
"So Sleeping Beauty awakes at last." Ranma said, a smile spread
across her face.
Akane's face twisted in anger, and her entire body tensed as she
prepared to clobber Ranma, then she remembered the previous night.
She relaxed and settled for a disgruntled, "Hmph! You're no Prince."
"Of course not. I can't change right now remember? And besides,
I figured a lesbian Sleeping Beauty needed a Princess' kiss to wake
her. I guess I was right."
"You're no Princess either."
"I came close. Remember Prince Toma?"
"Yeah! Well I was closer that you were. He picked me remember?"
Akane started to say more, but she saw a strange look in Ranma's eyes.
"What? Is something wrong?"
"Kami-sama, but you're beautiful." Akane was stunned. Before
she could say anything in response, Ranma went on. "Now could you
sit up before that fat head of yours crushes my legs."
Akane started seeing red, and was on the brink of summoning her
hammer when she saw the smile on Ranma's face and realized she was
only joking. "Very funny Ranma. You just can't say anything nice
without balancing it out with something mean, or stupid, or both."
"Yeah, well, you know. Old habits die hard."
Akane sat up, then stood up and groaned. "Oooohhhh...that
position may have been suitable for snuggling, but I definitely
_do not_ want to sleep like that again anytime soon."
As Akane started to do some stretches to work out the kinks,
Ranma stood up and groaned herself. "Ugh...Akane. Remind me never
to sleep in a bra again. It chafes too much."
There was a loud clatter from the kitchen that sounded like metal
striking the floor.
Ranma and Akane rushed to the kitchen. They found Kasumi
standing in the middle of the floor, the tea kettle at her feet,
leaking water. She seemed to be in shock.
"Oneechan! Are you all right?"
At the sound of Akane's voice, Kasumi seemed to snap out of her
shock and she looked around herself confused. When she saw the tea
kettle, she bent down to pick it up. "Oh my!" turning to Akane, she
said, "I'm fine Akane. Apparently I didn't dry my hands sufficiently
and the tea kettle slipped out of my grip. I'm sorry if I startled
you. I was startled myself. Don't worry about me. I've got
everything under control now." She quickly ushered them out of the
kitchen.
"That was strange. I've never seen Kasumi out of sorts like
that." Ranma said.
"I'm sure it was nothing. Kasumi will be fine."
Ranma looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, it's too late for
me to work out since I don't want to be late for breakfast. I may as
well take a bath."
"We'll take one together." At Ranma's surprised glance, Akane
replied, "I don't want to be late for breakfast either. Besides, we
need to talk where we won't be disturbed."
"Uh...Yeah, I guess so." Ranma replied wittily.
***
As Ranma slipped into the hot water of the bath, she felt her
whole body writhe for less than a second, then stop suddenly.
Looking inside herself, she realized that what she felt was the curse
trying to work, then being stopped by her chi. With a little more
concentrating, she discovered exactly what she had done with her chi
the night before. Apparently, she had been able to isolate the
morphing effect of her curse, and surround it with a shield of chi,
preventing it from activating. Still, she didn't know how long her
shield would last.
Akane saw Ranma shudder as she entered the bath, then go into a
trance-like state. She sat in the furo next to her lover, sighing at
the water's heat and asked Ranma, "Is something wrong?"
Ranma didn't answer at first. Then, as she came out of her
trance, she said, "The change started, but was stopped by what I did
last night. I went digging to see exactly what I had done.
Apparently I was able to isolate the part of the curse that causes
the transformation and surround it in a sort of shield of chi,
preventing it from activating. It still tries though. I think the
more times it tries to activate, the weaker the shield gets, but I'm
not sure. I don't know enough about what I did. I hate to say it,
but I may have to go see the old ghoul to find out more. She's the
only one who knows enough about chi manipulation to have an answer."
Akane put her arm around Ranma, pulling the girl close. "Don't
go to her Ranma. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own. You
don't need Cologne. Besides, how do you know she won't drug you or
use some pressure point on you or something."
With a sigh, Ranma laid her head on Akane's shoulder. "I don't
know Akane. I just know I need to know more about what I'm doing."
The two girls sat in silence for several minutes enjoying the
warmth of the water and each other's presence.
Ranma broke the silence. "We should tell everyone at breakfast
about us."
"Are you sure. Isn't it too soon?"
"I'm sure. I think Kasumi heard my comment about sleeping in a
bra. Also, Nabiki's smart enough to think something's up if she saw
the two of us asleep last night. Even pop will be suspicious when I
come to breakfast as I am."
"Can't we keep it a secret a little longer?"
"No. I've finally got my feelings for you out in the open. I
don't want to hide them anymore."
"But shouldn't we let them get used to the idea of us as a
willing couple before we tell them we're lesbians?" Akane asked.
"_We_ aren't lesbians. You are. I may have agreed to give up my
manhood for you, and I may have a girl's body, but in my mind I'll
always be at least partially male. It's who I am. I may change in
body, but not in mind." Ranma stopped when he felt Akane stiffen,
and raised her head off Akane's shoulder to look her in the eye.
"I'm sorry Akane, that came out harsher than I meant it to. I love
you, but I'm still getting used to the idea that I'll be female full
time now, or at least most of the time. I can't mentally change
overnight, as much as we'd both like me to. I _need_ to tell them,
as much to get it out in the open as to further instill the idea in
myself that I gave up my manhood. This is the best way for everyone.
Can you understand that?"
"I...I suppose. I'm just frightened a little I guess. You don't
know how hard it was for me to confront just you last night. It'll
be even harder facing the four of them at once."
Ranma pulled her love into a hug and said, "It couldn't have been
any harder then the decision I made about myself. Besides, you won't
be facing them alone, I'll be with you. I'll always be here for you.
Don't worry Akane. If they love you, as I do, your father and
sisters will understand. Pop, on the other hand..."
Akane pulled away from Ranma "...Will just have to have it beat
into him." she finished.
The laughter of the two girls drowned out Nabiki's retreating
footsteps.
***
Ranma and Akane were in Akane's bedroom. Both were clad only in
bra and panties. Ranma was sitting on Akane's bed squirming slightly
at the still unfamiliar feel of the bra, while Akane was standing in
front of her closet. On the bed beside Ranma was one of her red
Chinese shirts and a pair of her ankle-tie pants. Akane was holding
a white blouse in one hand and rifling through her clothes with the
other.
"Please Ranma."
"I told ya Akane. I'm not ready to wear more than just the bra
and panties. That sweater and those jeans are just too much yet."
Pulling a red, pleated skirt from her closet, Akane turned to
show Ranma the combination as she said, "At least let me do something
with your hair. The pig tail is cute and all, but when I saw you
with long hair on Toma's island, I just about died. Long hair really
suits you. Please Ranma."
After a smile and nod to the outfit, Ranma said, "I don't know
Akane. We don't need another surprise to stick to on our families."
"You're just making excuses Ranma. We're going to be telling
them everything anyway. Giving you a more feminine hairstyle will
just help show them how serious about this we are."
"You're right Akane. I'm just trying to rationalize a way out of
it. I guess...I don't know...I guess a small part of me still wants
to reject this whole thing. But then I think of how much I love you
and how much this means to you and that small part of me goes quiet."
"Ranma..."
"What I'm trying to say is...go ahead."
"Thank you Ranma."
From downstairs Kasumi called up, "Akane! Ranma! Time for
breakfast."
The two dressed quickly and Akane stepped behind Ranma. Reaching
up, she slowly undid the Dragon's Whisker from Ranma's hair and
watched that hair fall down just past Ranma's shoulders and keep
going. When it reached just past Ranma's waist, Akane tied Ranma's
hair back up with the Whisker.
"Are you done yet?" asked a nervous Ranma.
"Not yet." replied Akane as she went to her bureau and pulled a
black silk scarf from one of the drawers. Returning to her fiance,
she braided the scarf into Ranma's hair, tying it into a bow over the
Whisker. Akane turned Ranma to face the mirror and smiled as she
flipped the braid over Ranma's shoulder.
Ranma stared at her reflection in shock. Just changing her hair
made her look a lot more feminine than she had thought it would.
Still, Akane seemed happy and that made Ranma smile. Turning to face
Akane, she hugged her and gave her a tender kiss. "Thank you Akane.
It looks really nice. Now let's get downstairs before everyone starts
wondering where we are."
***
The family stared as onna-Ranma and Akane came to the table, hand
in hand and sat down. Then they noticed Ranma's hair and stared even
harder, if that were possible. The soft "Oh my!" that crossed
Kasumi's lips pretty much summed up everyone's reaction to the
couple.
"Ranma," Kasumi ventured, "would you like some hot water?"
"No thank you Kasumi. That won't be necessary." Ranma replied
sweetly.
The whole family face-faulted.
"On second thought," Ranma spoke up, "that would be good, yes."
Everyone recovered quickly and Kasumi went to the kitchen to get
the kettle of water she had ready. Kasumi set it in front of Ranma
and everyone watched her expectantly. Ranma just looked at it
quietly for several minutes, then turned and whispered something to
Akane. She nodded and Ranma picked up the kettle.
"Here goes." Ranma dumped the contents of the kettle over her
head and winced as the changed tried to activate, but was stopped.
Once more, everyone but Akane face-faulted.
"Wha...wha...what is the meaning of this, boy!" Genma managed to
sputter out.
"All in good time oyaji. But, first Akane needs to say
something."
Taking Akane's hand in hers, Ranma gave it a squeeze and turned
to Akane, a look of encouragement on her face.
Grateful for the show of support from her fiance, Akane began.
"Last night, while everyone else was out, Ranma and I had a long
talk. She professed her love for me and admitted that she would do
anything, sacrifice anything, for me." Akane's words sparked several
different reactions. Nabiki, not having missed the use of the
feminine pronoun, raised an eyebrow and stared harder at the two
girls. Kasumi smiled, happy that the two teens had finally opened
their relationship. Genma and Soun jumped up and started doing their
"happy dance" while blabbering something about a wedding that very
night.
Annoyed at the interruption, Akane stared crossly at their
fathers and yelled, "Sit down! Both of you! I'm not done yet!"
Being the cowards that they were, both men sat down, and Soun
started the waterworks, mumbling about how his baby daughter must
hate him because she yelled at him. Akane apologized, then continued
her announcement.
"After I had confirmation of Ranma's feelings, I told her that I
truly like her as a person, but I had no attraction to her male body
because I was a lesbian."
For the third time that morning everyone face-faulted.
When everyone had recovered sufficiently, Ranma continued where
Akane had left off. "After Akane 'came out of the closet' we had
another long 'discussion' in which Akane 'convinced' me to forsake my
manhood so we could be together."
"What!!! Ranma! What's wrong with you boy! Would you forsake
everything I've taught you! I taught you to be a 'man among men' and
you do this! What about my promise to your mother!"
As Genma ranted, Ranma's battle aura grew in intensity. At the
mention of her mother, Ranma let out a cry of rage and anguish, and
leapt to her feet and across the table at Genma. Faster than anyone
could react, Ranma grabbed Genma by his gi top and threw him through
the open door and into the koi pond. As Genma-panda surfaced, Ranma
cried out scornfully, "Damn you oyaji! What do you know about
manhood! You're not even _human_!!! And how _dare_ you bring mom
into this! That whole promise was _your_ idea. I _love_ Akane! And
if being a girl is the only way I can get her to love me back, then
I'll be a girl! This is something you have no say in!" Turning back
to the table, Ranma cried out "None of you do! Just me an' Akane."
Akane stood and went to Ranma. Reaching out she brushed away a
pair of tears on Ranma's face and softly said, "Oh Ranma...."
With a strangled cry of rage, grief and anguish, Ranma buried her
head in Akane's shoulder as large wracking sobs were ripped out of
her. Between Ranma's sobs, Akane could hear her whispering, "Damn
him! Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!"
Genma-panda just sat in the koi pond, not sure what to do.
Soun just sat there with a blank look on his face, as shock had
completely taken over.
Kasumi looked on with concern, wanting to go to the girl and hold
and comfort her. She knew, however, that in this case, Akane was
much better suited for that.
Nabiki was looking past Ranma and Akane at Genma-panda, utter
contempt plain on her face. She had known for quite a while her
little sister's sexual persuasion, even though Akane herself hadn't
realized it. After seeing the two sleeping last night, and listening
in on the conversation the two had in the bathroom, Nabiki had
finally hoped that Akane had realized who and what she was and found
someone to share that with. She feigned surprise to blend in with
the rest of the family and had silently cheered both Ranma and Akane
for having the strength of character and mind to do what they did.
She watched with growing anger at the effect Genma's words had on
Ranma. As Ranma broke down in tears on Akane's shoulder, Nabiki made
a silent promise to make Genma's life at the dojo a living hell until
he accepted his daughter's choice. Family _always_ came first, and
as far as Nabiki was concerned, Ranma was now a part of her family.
As Akane took Ranma up to her room, Kasumi cleared away the
untouched breakfast things. No one felt like eating anymore, not
even Genma.
***
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Jon Osborne | "When he's a guy, she wants him.
jco005@drake.edu | When he's a girl, she wants him
President: Drake Anime Club | dead."
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