Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective
creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please
don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without
asking me.
------------------
Walking a bit stiffly, the clockwork Akane entered the Tendo home and
made her way towards the kitchen. As she did so, she thought about her
recent activities.
'I found something that is relaxing, but it is something weird,' Akane
thought. 'If anyone found out that I liked being like this, I would be
thought a freak.'
Akane headed for the kitchen tap and poured herself a glass of hot
water. She hesitated and closed her eyes, feeling the key in her back
slowly turning and the spring inside her unwinding. In a quick motion
she doused herself with the water and changed back to a human being. As
she changed back, she felt a bit sad about it. Her eyelids felt heavy
and her stomach growled a bit. Akane grabbed a sandwich and headed
upstairs to bed, eating on the way.
'As a doll, I wouldn't have to worry about food or sleep. Not to
mention that walking around as a toy soldier after having my button
pushed was very relaxing.'
Finishing her sandwich, Akane entered her room and lay down on the
bed. She plucked at the vinyl skirt that she was wearing and looked at
the ceiling. Shaking the tiredness off for a bit, Akane rolled on to
her side and opened a drawer in the nightstand next to her bed. Inside
the drawer were neat rows of sealed plastic bags with a strange white
powder in them.
'I'd better find that catalog. I don't want to run out of packets.'
Closing the drawer, Akane curled up into a fetal position and fell
asleep.
After Akane had drifted off, her bedroom door opened and Nabiki sneaked
in carrying a glass of water and a small booklet. She also had a camera
hanging from her neck. She doused Akane with the water and watched in
satisfaction as a key sprouted from her sister's back. She carefully
placed the booklet between the mattress and the baseboard of Akane's
bed.
"I don't need this now, sis. I already placed my order and will get a
new catalog. Thanks for letting me borrow it," Nabiki whispered, with a
smirk on her face. "Now then, let's get you upright."
Nabiki, with a bit of difficulty, was able to move Akane's limbs and
put her into a sitting position on her bed. Standing behind Akane,
Nabiki reached out with her right hand and tapped Akane's key.
"I have all this power over you, Akane. You can't move unless I wind
you up. Since you are wound down, I can position you any way I feel
like it. This is small recompense for breaking Don's arms a couple of
days ago."
A flash of anger passed across Nabiki's face as she walked around the
bed and faced Akane. Nabiki drew back her hand and slapped Akane across
the face. Ignoring the sting in her hand, Nabiki felt tears form in her
eyes.
"How could you do that to him?" Nabiki asked the senseless toy.
The middle Tendo sister stared at Akane's face. Blinking back tears,
she started posing the doll Akane. Nabiki managed to get Akane on her
feet when necessary. After getting a pose that she thought was sexy,
Nabiki took a picture. In each and every case, she made sure that the
key in her sister's back was visible. Soon the camera ran out of blank
film and Nabiki's picture taking came to an end.
"This should prove very profitable, Akane. I'll probably keep a set
just for myself as proof that I have this kind of power over you. Thank
you."
The middle Tendo carefully stood Akane at the foot of her bed, with the
key facing away from the bed. Akane had her arms down to the sides and
was standing straight legged. Putting her right index finger against
the back of the clockwork's head, Nabiki pushed hard. Akane stiffly
fell forward onto the bed. The middle Tendo crept out of the room with
her camera and glass. A few minutes later, she returned with a glass of
water that had steam rising from it. Nabiki carefully poured some hot
water onto Akane. As soon as the key vanished, she stopped and snuck
back out of the room.
As she headed to her room, Nabiki thought, 'That was fun. I'll have to
pace the pictures out until my shipment arrives. I'd better put some
money aside for the water. Once I douse Akane with that, I won't need
to bother with the packets anymore.'
------------
Ranma was still doing his katas when he was suddenly attacked. Without
thinking about it, he dropped and rolled to one side and evaded a flying
kick. Snapping back to his feet, he faced the person who attacked him.
"Ranma, I saw how you just ignored that challenge earlier this
morning. What have you to say for yourself?" Genma chided. "Have I
not taught you that a martial artisit never backs down?"
Ranma shouted back, "It was about to rain, Pops! In case you've
forgotten, I have this little problem when I get wet! I don't want a
bunch of strangers walking up to me and winding me up!"
"That should not matter to a true martial artist," Genma countered.
"If you had fought him, you would have found his weakness."
"I did fight him, later," Ranma said through clenched teeeth. "And, I
beat him. So what's the problem?"
Genma rubbed his temples and said, "Obviously, you need some more
training. You're getting sloppy."
Ranma rolled his eyes and went into a fighting stance. "Ready when you
are, Pops."
The two Saotomes went at each other for a quite a while. As the
finished thier sparring session, they broke off and bowed to each other.
Genma pursed his lips and studied his son. "Ranme, you seem to be
heading for fast wins and not out enduring your opponent. Why?"
"If I become a doll during a fight, I won't have much time to fight,"
Ranma shot back. "I'll wind down after a little bit."
"So that's why you evaded the fight. You're afraid of winding down.
You break your father's heart," Genma said, faking sobs.
Ranma demanded, "Teach me something to drop opponents quick, and then
I won't have to worry about changing forms."
Genma stopped his phony crying and thought about Ranma's request.
"Hmmm. You might have a point. Tomorrow, you are going to be training
in some speed techinquies."
"Oh?" Ranma asked, intriuged. "Like what?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Genma said.
"This isn't another Cat-fist, is it?"
"You don't trust me?" Genma asked, "Well, I'll have you know that I
know the attack myself and I'll train you the way I learned it."
Ranma remained silent as he left the dojo. 'I wonder what he's going
to teach me.'
-----------------
In the greyish light that proceeded the dawn, Ranma jumped up and
headed for the stairway. He was eager to begin his training. As he
passed Nabiki's room, he heard muffled crying.
'I wonder what's bothering her?' Ranma thought, as he descended to the
first floor. 'It's not my concern. I have a technique to learn.'
Making his way to the rear door of the house, Ranma stopped as he heard
multiple tappings against the screen.
Shaking his head in denial, Ranma muttered, "No. Not today. I don't
want it to rain."
Wtih a heavy sigh, Ranma walked over to a window and looked out. He
saw that the rain was falling heavy enough to obscure as bad as fog.
Shoulders slumping, Ranma waited for someone to wake up. He tried to
figure a way to make it to school. He sat crosslegged and stared at the
screen, which he opened slightly.
'If I go out there, I'll change and have to stay a wind-up until we
reach school. And if my clothes are soaked, I'll change right back if
I use hot water.'
As he sat there, Akane came down wearing red shorts, a yellow T-shirt,
and carrying sneakers.
"Hi, Ranma. I'm heading out for my morning jog."
"You'll get wet," Ranma replied. "It's raining pretty hard."
Akane opened the front door and saw that Ranma was correct. She
closed the door and sat down beside Ranma.
"What are you doing up?" she asked.
"I'm trying to figure a way to get to school today without staying a
doll."
"Why don't you want to use your other form?"
Ranma sighed and said, "I have my reasons."
"Wait here, Ranma. I'll get some hot water ready. We'll put it in a
thermos and use that when we get to school," Akane stated, as she
headed for the kitchen.
A few seconds later, a loud boom echoed throughout the house. The
sound caused Ranma to dive out the slightly ajar screen and into the
rain. Feeling the change, the clockwork Ranma rolled her eyes and made
her way cautiously back in. She had to open the door a bit more, to
allow room for her key.
"Akane? Are you all right?" The female doll called out.
Akane's voice came from the kitchen. "I'm fine. The teakettle blew
up."
Other voices were heard as the rest of the family had awakened and
headed to the source of the sound. Kasumi was the first to arrive and
heard Akane's answer.
"Akane, what did you do?" Kasumi asked.
"I wanted the water to get hotter faster, so I plugged up the hole on
the top of the kettle," Akane said as she came out of the kitchen,
sopping wet.
Kasumi replied, "Akane, the kettle blew up because the steam had no
place to go. I'd better see what else might be damaged."
Ranma sat down and stared at the kitchen with unblinking eyes. She
felt the familiar itch of the key slowly turning in her back and the
intense desire to move. She absently pushed in on her belly button and
felt it click.
'I wonder what that's like. Akane knows something about my form than I
don't.'
"Ranma! Stop staring like that. It's giving me the creeps," Akane
snapped.
The clockwork shrugged, "I can't help it. That's part of what I am
right now."
Out of the corner of one eye, Ranma thought she saw a look of anger
pass over Nabiki's face as she looked at her sister. The clockwork
discarded the idea a second later.
"Well, my boy. As soon as you're ready, we'll start training," Genma
said. "After school, we'll go into special training."
Before Ranma could respond, Kasumi exited the kitchen and started
talking.
"The damge from the teakettle exploding is slight, but it did knock out
the hot water throughout the house. I'll have to get a new kettle at
the market and the plumber doesn't open until ten. I'm sorry Ranma, but
you'll have to stay in your cursed form until you get to school."
Turning her gaze to Akane, Kasumi contiued, "If you are going to be
using one of those packets today, you'll be in the same boat as Ranma.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make breakfast."
Ranma stood and marched back up to the guest room. She went to the
center of the room and stood at attention. She heard a knock at the
door.
"Come in," the clockwork said.
The door opened slowly and Akane entered. "Are you all right? Don't
you want breakfast?"
The living doll rolled here eyes and replied, "In this form, I don't
eat. Remember? And yes, I'm fine. I just came up here to relax until
it's time for us to leave."
"Standing up?"
"I don't get tired and laying down is a problem with a key in your
back."
Akane bit her lower lip. "I forgot about that. Do you need wound up?"
Ranma simply nodded.
Akane stepped behind Ranma and grasped the key. She turned it
clockwise. Upon each turn, Ranma jerked a bit as her spring was
tightened. Akane let the key go as soon as she encountered resistance.
Akane watched in fasciantion as Ranma's key unwound.
After a few minutes, Ranma said, "Uh? Akane? You've been back there
for quite a while now. Is something the matter?"
"No. Nothing," Akane relpied with a strange voice. "I'd better get
downstairs. Kasumi must almost be ready with breakfast by now."
Akane left the clockwork girl standing in the middle of the room.
Standing ramrod straight, Ranma thought, 'Akane's acting strangely. Oh
well, I guess I should expect some odd reactions to this form. I still
haven't eaten since Jusenkyo.'
----------
Running through the rain, Akane kept throwing sideways glances towards
the living wind-up. She noticed the mechanical precision of Ranma's
gait. She shook her head and sighed.
'Ranma doesn't realize how perfect he is right now. Every movement
precise and unflawed. Plus he has the best relaxation technique as a
natural part of his body. I'll have to use one of those packets after
school.'
Ranma looked over at Akane and asked, "Is something the matter?"
"No. Not at all," Akane replied quickly.
Ranma whispered softly, "I guess she thinks that I'm a doll that she
can play with. I know girls play with dolls, but still..."
Akane felt a flash of anger and checked the impulse to hit Ranma. She
had no desire to break her hand, trying to smash some sense into Ranma.
Seeing they were closing on Furinkan very fast, Ranma scooped Akane up
and jumped to the schoolyard wall. The clockwork jumped once more
behind the gathering group of boys and dashed into the school.
Slapping Ranma across the face, Akane said, "Don't do that again
without telling me."
With unbruised face and unblinking eyes, Ranma stared at the Tendo
girl. "I didn't want them to see me like this and I need to change."
"Oh. Well, come on. There should be a place where you can change,
nearby."
Before they went very far, the two heard a shout.
"Ah, Akane Tendo and the girl who I met yesterday. How I long for
your comapny," Tatewaki Kuno said as he came rushing up.
Kuno grabbed Akane and Ranma in a hug. A second later, he recoiled and
stared at Ranma in horror.
"What foul manner of creature are you?" Kuno demanded.
The living clockwork stared at Kuno and waited to see what the kendoist
would say next.
"You are mockery of a human. Nothing but a doll."
Ranma winced at those words and turned away from Kuno.
Akane said, "Leave her alone, Kuno. She can't help the way she is."
Kuno stared at the key in Ranma's back with disgust and replied, "For
you, fair Akane, I will leave this abomination of a girl alone. If you
will excuse me, I need to purge myself of contact with such an unclean
thing."
Akane said nothing as she grabbed Ranma's hand and led her to a place
where she could change back. Akane thought about what Kuno said.
"Sometimes, I think the same way," Ranma said. "That I am an
a-a-abomination. Is that the word?"
"Ignore him. He doesn't know of the curse," Akane said and thought,
'Maybe I can chase Kuno away from me as well.'
As soon as Ranma had changed back into a guy, they headed for class.
As the day wore on, they heard that Kuno had spread the word about the
clockwork girl throughout the school. Unlike Kuno, there were quite a
few guys who were interested in seeing this girl up close. A number of
girls also showed a desire to meet Ranma's clockwork side. Ranma felt
nervous every time the subject was brought up.
As lunchtime approached, Ranma was about to open the lunch box that
Kasumi had prepared for him when he heard a crash behind him and felt
something cold and wet spray him. The itch in the middle of the back
reappeared as Ranma changed into his clockwork girl form. Spinning
around, the toy saw a smashed thermos on the ground in a pool of red
punch. The girl who had dropped it had a shocked expression on her
face.
"R-R-Ranma?" the girl squeaked, as she backed away.
"It's that clockwork girl Kuno was ranting about," one boy said.
A clearing of a throat silenced the class as they all looked to the
front of the class. Ranma winced as he saw that Mr. Keipo, the teacher,
was looking on the incident calmly.
"Ranma, do you want to explain this?" Mr. Keipo said.
Before the living doll could say anything, Akane stood up and looked at
the teacher.
"Ranma, I'll explain," Akane said.
Ranma didn't know whether to feel releived or worried about that.
Akane took a deep breath and began, "It's like this, Ranma picked up a
weird curse in China. He turns into a clockwork doll when doused with
cold water.
As Akane quickly explained the details of Ranma's conditon, conviently
omiting the details of the instant curse packets, the clockwork watched
the class's reactions. As she finished, Mr. Keipo looked at Ranma.
"If you are told something as you are now, can you remember it?" the
teacher asked.
Rolling her eyes, Ranma said, "I have a photographic memory in this
form. Anything I see or hear, I will remember."
Mr. Keipo nodded. "Very good. Get used to that form, Ranma. You will
remain in it during my class... and probably others as well."
"Huh? Why? And, why aren't you freaking out?"
Mr. Keipo smiled. "You haven't met the principal yet. As to why,
you'll learn more in this form. A teacher's duty is to make sure his or
her students learn and your curse is an advantage I refuse to let you
waste."
Ranma sighed as she saw that she wasn't getting out of this one. The
living toy gave a quick nod to Akane's questioning gaze and braced
herself as she felt Akane wind her back up.
'One thermos of juice and my secret is blown. At least, I don't have
to worry about hiding the curse anymore,' Ranma thought as she saw the
various gazes that her classmates were giving her.
Some of the gazes the guys were giving her made her very uneasy. Quite
a few of the girls had dreamy looks on their faces when they looked at
the living toy.
Ranma heard one girl whisper, "Just think how lucky Akane is. She has
a life-sized doll to play with."
Another girl whispered back, "Yeah. She has all the guys drooling over
her and now has the best toy in the world. She is so lucky."
'I am not a toy,' Ranma thought, fighting the extreme desire to shout
that.
As the day finished up, each teacher that came in was appraised of
Ranma's situation by the leaving teacher and nodded. As soon as the
last class had finished, Akane walked up behind Ranma and turned the
clockwork girl's key.
Instead of running home, Ranma slowly moped along. She occasionally
kicked a rock. Casting a concerned glance at Ranma, Akane slowed her
pace down and walked beside the living toy.
"Are you all right?"
The doll shrugged. "I've just been told that I'll be attending classes
as a doll. I'm not sure how I should feel."
"At least when it comes to physical activities, you'll be allowed to
turn back into a guy. It would be kind of pointless to get a doll into
shape."
Ranma brightened a bit at that. "True. And that is the most
interesting part of school."
Akane looked over Ranma and tapped her bottom lip with her index finger
as she thought, 'Those doll comments got me thinking. Somehow, I have
to convince Ranma to wear something more appropriate as a doll. I'll
have to check my old clothes. I think I have a green version of what
I'm calling my yellow doll suit.'
"Um. Ranma? I think I have something of mine that you could wear as
you are: A green version of the clothes I wore yesterday."
Ranma angrily shouted, "Forget it! There is no way you're getting me to
wear something like that!"
Feeling a little smug, Akane asked, "Oh? Are you afraid that I'm
better looking than you as a doll?"
"I'm much better looking than you," Ranma retorted.
"Then why are you afraid of wearing that dress?"
"Fine. I'll wear that silly thing and prove I'm better looking."
Akane inwardly smiled. 'Gotcha.'
-----------------
Still a little bit mad at Akane, Ranma put the green, vinyl suit on.
The living toy was a bit surprised that the back of the dress was closed
with Velcro brand hook and loop fasteners. The sections of fastener
cloth allowed Ranma's key to turn freely while at the same time holding
the mini-dress taunt against the doll's body. After putting the vinyl
min-dress on, Ranma thrust her feet into a matching pair of green, thigh
high boots. She walked out to the dojo and stared at Akane, who was
waiting for her and dressed in her yellow outfit.
"Well?" Ranma asked, with a defiant look.
Akane nodded and replied, "You look great, Ranma."
"Fine. Anything else?"
Akane smiled impishly as she thought of something.
"Well, yes. Yes there is."
"Oh? What?"
Akane jabbed Ranma in the belly button, before the toy had time to
react. With a loud click, Ranma's button was depressed. The clockwork
girl felt her mind lose control of her body as she marched in a stiff
gait around the dojo. The rythmic pumping of her legs and swinging of
her arms created a soothing effect for the toy girl. After bouncing off
a wall and turning, Akane stepped forward and pushed Ranma's button
again.
Akane innocently said, "Well, you did wonder what that was like."
Ranma didn't say anything as she was trying to sort her feelings out on
what had just happened. Until she felt her key being turned, she was
unaware that Akane had moved behind her.
"Now it's my turn, Ranma," Akane said, as she grabbed a glass of water.
She dumped the glass over herself and Ranma saw the key sprout from
Akane's back. Still a bit dazed by having her button pushed, Ranma
pressed Akane's and watched as the youngest Tendo girl did her
impression of a toy soldier. Akane soon ground to a halt as her key
stopped turning. Ranma walked behind Akane and grabbed her key. Before
turning it, she pushed the Tendo's girl midriff and heard a click.
Satisfied, Ranma wound the clockwork Akane back up. Akane shook her
head and sighed a bit sadly as she went around behind Ranma and re-wound
the red-head.
The two clocwork girls sat down on the floor and stared towards the
door.
Akane commented, "We're a matching set. Aren't we Ranma? One girl in
green and the other in yellow."
"Is that why you wanted my to wear this thing? To match you when you
are a doll?" Ranma asked.
Akane didn't answer as she got back up. Ranma mulled things over in
her mind.
"If you want me to wear this while you and I are both dolls, I want you
to feel what its like to be me."
Akane warily asked, "How do I do that?"
"By remaining a doll until we leave for school tomorrow. You should
feel what it is like to be wound down for several hours at a time."
Before Akane could reply, Kasumi came into the dojo and heard Ranma's
last remark.
She nodded in agreement and said, "You really should do it, Akane.
I'll come out andd get the both of you tomorrow and change you back.
Ranma, you should stay with her, since you've been through this before."
The two clockwork girls stared as Kasumi left the dojo and closed it
behind her. They both stood up and waited like tin statues for their
keys to stop turning.
"At least we got our homework done," Akane mumbled, feeling the key in
her back slowly unwind.
---
Outside the dojo, Nabiki heard Kasumi's procalmation and laughed
quietly to herself.
'Well, sis. You're getting what you asked for. I heard Kuno's rants
about the pig-tailed abomination and what happened later in your class.
Maybe I can't sell to Kuno, but the other guys...'
Nabiki quietly chuckled as she made her way back into the house to eat
dinner.
'Too bad, Akane. More for us,' Nabiki thought, as she grabbed a piece
of suishi. 'So you have a button? Interesting.'
---
Later that night, Akane felt her key come to a stop and she tried
moving her body and found she couldn't.
'So this is what it's like to be unwound,' Akane thought inside her
unresponsive body. 'It's very peaceful like this. No hunger,
tiredness, or pain. Just quietness. I could get used to this form of
life.'