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The first time, Akane didn’t think much of it.
Ranma had been motormouthing on and on about some fight he had earlier that day, when all of a sudden Akane noticed something odd about the way he was talking.
“Ranma…” Akane started.
“Hm? What’s up, ‘Kane?” Ranma looked up from his story, eyebrows raised as he prepared for a fist to meet his face.
“When did you start using atashi?”
Ranma was taken aback by Akane’s question. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“Just now, you used atashi instead of ore.”
“Did I? Man, the curse is really messin’ with me, I guess.” Ranma sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “So anyway, that Kuwabara guy kept goin’ an’ goin’ with that spirit sword of his, but I…”
The second time, Akane wasn’t so sure.
Ranma was chomping up his breakfast even quicker than usual, and was about to dash out the door when he looked back for a second.
“Hey, ‘Kane. Some other girls and I were gonna check out that new shop that opened, you wanna come with?”
Akane’s nails began to dig into her palms. “What do you mean ‘other girls,’ Ranma?”
Ranma put his hands up defensively. “Hey, calm down, ‘Kane. I just meant some girls from class. No fiancées, if that’s what you were wondering.”
You have friends? Like, normal ones? Akane wondered, before nodding. “Oh, uh… sure.”
The two ran off to meet with the other girls. She thought the reason he was saying ‘other’ was because of her, but… maybe it was Ranma? No, he’s a guy! Of course it wasn’t him!
The third time, Akane knew something was going on.
It was late one night, and Ranma was being needled by Nabiki about a modelling job. Maybe her customers were starting to get bored of the pictures they already had? Either way, it was mostly background noise to the television show Akane was watching. A few minutes into the conversation, however, Akane’s ears had perked up at something Ranma let slip.
“Cool it, ‘Biki! I’m tellin’ ya that I just ain’t that kinda girl! I ain’t gonna do it!”
“C’mon, Ranma. It’s just a little model work. Nothing you haven’t already done. Need I remind you of the last time we went to Comiket?”
“That was different, I was cosplaying, not posing as a damn gravure idol like you’re proposing!”
Their argument faded into the background as Akane was caught on what Ranma had said, staring incredulously at the black-haired boy sat across from her. What did he mean about not being that kind of girl? She mentally corrected herself—she knew what Ranma meant, but the wording wasn’t exactly what Akane had expected.
She zoned back in, deciding to bite the bullet and just ask Ranma himself. “Ranma, what do you mean you’re ‘not that kinda girl?’”
Both Ranma and Nabiki halted in their tracks, with a deer-in-headlights expression on Ranma’s face and a look of surprise on Nabiki’s. Ranma began to sputter out a response, but was failing miserably. “Well, uh, I meant…”
Nabiki’s face shifted into her trademark smug expression. “Seems Ranko here is thinking about making me a whole lot of money in bets.”
Ranma huffed indignantly at the alias he had used when his mother came to visit. “Even if I was a girl, I like my name! Just get lost, ‘Biki.”
“Suit yourself, Ranma,” Nabiki began to leave the room, chuckling to herself on the way out. “Just tell me when you wanna do that modelling job, okay? As for me, I think I’ll turn in and get myself some beauty sleep.”
“Gimme a break, ‘Biki,” Ranma sighed. “Well, ‘Kane… um… Saotome Secret Technique: Fast Break!” As Ranma got up to try and run away, Akane yanked him back down.
“Not so fast, Ranma. I’ve got some questions I need to ask you.” Akane looked Ranma dead in the eyes, intent on figuring out what was going on with her fiancé. “I won’t get mad, just tell me the truth.”
Ranma solemnly nodded. “…I understand.”
“Ranma,” Akane started, unsure if she wanted to even finish the sentence, “am I engaged to a woman?”
Ranma began to hold his breath, bracing himself for impact. “Yes, you are. I’m sorry about this,”
Akane began to ball her fists, her nails digging into her palms almost hard enough to draw blood. “…I see.”
When the fist Ranma was expecting hadn’t appeared, she slowly opened one eye. “You’re… you’re not mad?”
“What, you thought I was gonna hit you for this?” Akane asked, sounding almost offended by the idea that she would do something like hit Ranma.
Ranma rolled her eyes, landing on a deadpan expression aimed right at her fiancée. “Do you really want me to answer that, ‘Kane?”
“Ugh, fine, no I don’t want you to, I get it,” Akane said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. A few seconds later, her eyebrows shot up in realization. “Oh, do you want some water?”
Ranma nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”
Akane stood up and entered the kitchen, coming back with a cup of water. Ranma took the cup and dumped its contents over her head, letting out a sigh of relief as her male body washed away and left a redheaded girl in its place.
The two sat in silence after Ranma changed, unable to find the words they want to say. Eventually, however, the silence got to Ranma, and she decided to ask the big question she felt was hanging in the air.
“I’m guessin’ you’d wanna find someone else, ‘Kane,” Ranma looked aside as she asked the question, finding looking Akane in the eyes to be just a bit too much for her to handle right now.
Akane just looked at Ranma for a while before her lips began to curl up into a grin. “Y’know… you’re just about the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, ‘Kane?” Ranma’s face was one of surprise, unable to decipher Akane’s words, though it quickly morphed into just about the cutest pout Akane’s ever seen.
“It means that I like you the way you are, Ranma. Girl, boy, both, neither, something in between, it doesn’t matter to me. In fact, Ranma,” Akane walked over to the other side of the table they were sat at and picked Ranma up bridal style, “I think I like you better like this.”
Ranma’s eyes lit up, the shine rivaled only by the blush creeping up her face. “Wha? What’re… ‘Kane, you okay? You’re not usually this, uh… touchy.”
Akane responded with a deadpan look, as she flicked Ranma in the forehead, receiving a high pitched yelp in response. “You idiot, I’m confessing. This is a confession, dimwit. I’m expressing affection for you. I love you.”
“Oh,” Ranma said, having only just now put two and two together. She looked a bit embarrassed by the time it took for her to understand. “I guess I like you too, ‘Kane.”
“Glad to hear it, Ranma.” Akane smiled, though this quickly gave way to a yawn. “It’s getting late, though. Maybe we should get some sleep?”
Ranma returned the yawn. “Fine by me.”
The two departed for Akane’s room. Or rather, Akane carried Ranma there and laid her down in Akane’s bed. Akane herself followed Ranma into bed, and the two slowly drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.
The first thing Ranma noticed when she woke up was that she wasn’t in the guest room she shared with Genma. The second thing she noticed was that a currently-asleep Akane was holding her in a death grip. Man, if she’s like this when she’s asleep… poor P-chan, Ranma thought. The redhead had tried to free herself by prying off Akane’s arms, and once again by slipping through her arms, but neither approach was particularly successful. She eventually decided to just wait until Akane woke up, though that only took a few minutes. She felt Akane let go, and decided to get up off the bed. “I-I… uh, I hope ya don’t mind me sleepin’ with ya, ‘Kane.”
Akane yawned, and proceeded to look at her fiancée with an eyebrow raised. “Why would I mind sleeping with the girl I love, Ranma?”
The events of the night before came flooding back into Ranma’s memory, causing her to blush just as hard as she did last night. “O-oh, yeah. I forgot.”
“Well now that you remember, go and get dressed, we’ve got school today.”
“I gotcha, ‘Kane. Even though it might not seem like it, I don’t actually like running around topless.” Ranma left for the guest room, leaving Akane to herself as she began to think about things.
Ranma seemed much happier now that she was finally able to come clean and admit that she’s a girl, and Akane was happier as well. As she finished getting herself ready, Akane began to head downstairs to go grab breakfast, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs she realized that nothing was ever as simple as she thought. No thanks to their fathers, at least. Ranma was stood in female form with one foot on the table, shouting obscenities Akane didn’t even know Ranma was aware of at Genma.
“Dammit, Pops! I’m tellin’ ya, this ain’t somethin’ you can convince me outta! I ain’t a guy, and that answer ain’t gonna change!”
Genma was unwilling to back down either, and put his foot down. That is, he put it down on the table. “We’re going on a training trip, then! Nothing like a good few weeks out in the wilderness to toughen a man back up!”
“That sucks, ‘cuz I’m a woman!”
“Then who do you expect Akane to marry, boy? I won’t have my son shirking his marital responsibilities! Akane won’t want to marry a stupid, weak girl!”
Ranma was about to bypass the table entirely and tackle Genma when Akane decided to speak up. “Actually, Mr. Saotome, I’d much rather marry a girl instead of a boy.”
The entire room immediately became silent, with the only sound being a quiet “Oh my!” from Kasumi.
The first to speak up was Soun Tendo, who could only manage sputtering words out before he could form a coherent thought. “Akane, you couldn’t mean…”
Akane gave a pointed look at her father in response. “I mean what I said, dad.”
Soun began to cry, as he often does. “Now the schools will never be joined! How is my dear Akane supposed to marry another woman?”
It took a minute for someone to figure out a way to calm Soun down, but eventually Ranma slapped her fist into her palm as her face lit up. “Actually, Mr. Tendo, ain’t I still a guy on the books? As far as marriage is concerned, that’s enough, ain’t it?”
Soun immediately ceased his crying, and pulled Ranma into a tight hug. “Ranma, dear, you’re a genius! The schools will finally be joined after all!”
As Ranma tried to pull herself free, Genma seemed to have something to say. “We must depart on a training trip, boy! Living among women has made you weak!” Not even a second after he finished speaking, Akane had thrown him into the koi pond, and the panda that emerged held up a sign reading “I stand by what I said!”
“Can it, panda!”
As the rest of the house descended into its usual chaos, Nabiki stood up. “As much as I’d like to continue watching you all do your thing, I’ve got school to attend.” She walked out the door.
After seeing Nabiki depart, Akane realized that Nabiki was right. “Hey, dad! Can you let go of Ranma, we gotta go!”
Soun had finally released Ranma. Do all the Tendos have iron grips or something? “Ah, very well! I’ll be seeing you two later, then!”
Akane and Ranma stood up, the two girls grabbing their school bags and heading off. As the two began to run off, Ranma grinned at Akane.
“I’ll race ya, ‘Kane! Last one to school’s a rotten egg!”
“You’re on, Ranma!”