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With one large blast of the giant hose, Ranma and Akane both were pushed out of the circus tent, victims of Mousse's scheme. As far as everyone in that tent knew, Akane was cursed to turn into a duck, and Ranma… Well, presumably a girl duck.
Soun, Genma, Kasumi and Nabiki all ran to the small roped off section outdoors that the two martial artists had been blasted into, looking over the damage. There were a few shallow puddles, a soggy pile of recognisable clothes, and two ducks snuggled up against each other.
“MY PRECIOUS BABY GIRL!” Soun wailed as he saw the two waterfowl.
“My boy!” Genma joined his drinking buddy in tears.
“Oh my…” Kasumi gasped, “Perhaps we should take them home, we can get them a kettle there.”
“Yes, and join them in marriage as it's only honourable to do!” Soun grabbed the most tomboyish looking duck in his opinion, “Come, Saotome!”
“You heard him, boy!” Genma had to wrestle the other duck into his arms, “Let's get this engagement handled!”
The two dads wrangled away the ducks, Kasumi sighing as she followed.
“So we're just leaving their clothes here?” Nabiki asked to no one, “Ugh, fine, I'll be responsible for once.”
Nabiki bent down to grab the pile of clothes, only for her to realise there was a bit more weight to the pile than she thought. Either the teens had come with stuffed wallets, or…
Two plushies fell out of the clothing bundle. Both were made to resemble humans, one with blue felt for her short hair, the other with red felt with what was meant to resemble a braid. The latter was cuddled around the former protectively, just as Ranma protected Akane from impact in fights before.
“... Mousse didn't see what spring he got water from,” Nabiki chuckled, picking back up the two plushies, “Figures. Welp, guess I'm extra responsible today.”
◇◇◇◇
“Alright, lovebi- uh, loveplushies,” Nabiki said once back home, “I'm gonna go get the kettle for you. You just stay right here.”
The brunette placed the two plushies down on Akane's bed, placing the two on top of each other, plush-ified Ranma on the bottom, forced to make very direct eye contact with his fabric fiancee.
The door shut, leaving a silent room. And yet, while no one could tell from the outside due to permanently open fabric eyes, Ranma and Akane both started to stir awake. Vision started to slowly fade in, then touch, then a very present series of thoughts.
[WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?] The two thought in unison, surprised to hear the other plushie seemingly talk.
[R-Ranma!?] Akane was shocked as she tried so hard to move, [Since when did psychic plushies sound like stupid jerks!?]
[Since when did tomboys turn into plushies!?] Ranma thought back, [You were supposed to be a duck, if anything! I… I failed you!]
Akane struggled to move at all, but with enough effort, her left arm lifted up to lightly tap Ranma in the face, the closest thing to a smack she could do. [I can't believe you'd get yourself cursed trying to save me! What about your previous curse?]
[It could just be instant powder, there's no way there's that much water in one spring,] Trying to be nonchalant, Ranma struggled to roll out from under Akane, [Now, get off of me!]
The two plushies awkwardly wriggled around for a bit, using all their effort to just move a little bit. Eventually, though, Akane fell off the side of the bed completely, Ranma soon to follow.
[Ow…] Akane got up on to her wobbly, plushie feet, [You better be right about this being powder.]
Ranma soon stumbled upright, too. [It'll be fine, ‘Kane. It has to be fine. Now, help me reach your doorknob.]
[Ugh, fine.] Reaching out her left hand, Akane wasn't expecting how easily Ranma's right hand snapped into hers. They were magnetic, a matching set of plushies. Of course they were. The magnets were pretty tough to pull apart, too. If plushies could blush…
◇◇◇◇
“You may now kiss the bride.”
The older two Tendou sisters watched as two grown men tried to make ducks in wedding veils kiss.
“This has been the third most interesting duck wedding I've ever been to…” Kasumi mused to herself, “Quite shocking, actually, given the usual nature of the brides.”
“Why?” Nabiki asked through a mouthful of popcorn, “It's not like they're Ak- OH SHIT, THE TOYS!”
“The toys?” Kasumi wouldn't get an answer immediately, though, as Nabiki was already off like a jet to fetch the kettle.
Nabiki slammed Akane's bedroom door open, kettle in hand, only to find the plush-ified Ranma and Akane presumably fighting. The pitiful punches and clumsy dodges were kind of cute, honestly, if this whole situation wasn't kind of cosmically terrifying.
“I thought I told you two to stay put,” Nabiki joked, causing both plushies to look at her, “... And that's kinda freaky.”
If Ranma and Akane were trying to say something, it wasn't being heard. Their arm gestures implied some form of attempt at speech, but nothing anyone but them could understand. They really were just oddly animated plushies right now, no additional voice boxes included.
“Nabiki, how dare you run out on your sister's wedding like that!?” Soun marched through, almost about to continue yelling before he saw the two toys. The moustached man fainted pretty soon after. Akane started to wander over, probably concerned.
“Oh my, this is…” Kasumi picked up Akane as she got close, the plushie panicking a little despite the permanent stitched on smile, “... Akane, Ranma-kun, you're both adorable!”
If plushies could pout properly, then Ranma and Akane would have both done so then and there.
“Relax, I got the kettle,” Nabiki said, first tipping some water onto Ranma, “Kasumi, could you put our sister on the floor again?”
“But-”
“Just put her down!” The redheaded girl said once human again, feminine modesty out the window, “Ugh, I'm gonna go take a bath and get to guy form again. Something feels off, stupid fucking instant powder…”
Almost reluctantly, Kasumi placed her sister back on the ground, allowing Nabiki to make Akane human again. The blue haired girl quickly blushed, wrapping a blanket around herself. “... Thank you.”
“You really do make a very cute plushie, Akane,” Kasumi said as if that was normal, “It's a shame it was temporary.”
Akane nodded, but couldn't look either of her sisters in the eye. “... It being temporary is only Ranma's theory, and-”
A loud, feminine shriek came from the bathroom, causing Akane to suddenly look a lot more scared.
“... Something tells me Ranma was wrong.” Nabiki said plainly.
◇◇◇◇
“Mr Saotome, stop!” Kasumi acted as the voice of reason, “You'll burn him!”
“Nonsense!” Genma kept trying to get to Ranma with even hotter kettles of water, “His boy form has to be there somewhere! It just needs hotter water!”
The redhead in question just sulked in the corner, trying not to completely freak out. “It's over, Pops. I'm done. Who's ever heard of a curse affected by three different water temperatures? I'm… I'm stuck like this forever…”
Ranma didn't want to give up, but what was he supposed to do? Go diving through Jusenkyo just to fix himself? That journey would be impossible if he got splashed even once, now. A plushie hiking through China…
“It's… It's going to be okay, Ranma,” Akane tried to reassure, despite her own panic, “We can beat this, right? What happened to you never losing?”
“... Ranma Saotome never loses. He's also a boy, and not a plushie,” The redhead mumbled, “Do I look like any of that to you now?”
Akane didn't really have words for that, and how could she. The best she could do was let her left hand slip into Ranma's right, a quiet attempt at physical comfort that she felt magnetically pulled towards. It just felt right.
The literally boiling hot water tipped on Ranma's head did not. “OW!”
“C'mon, boy, turn back!” Genma insisted as if magic would listen, “You can do this, you'll be a man again if you keep trying!”
While neither were the best martial artists, the combined efforts of Kasumi and Nabiki launched Genma into the koi pond. Soun simply shook his head at the panda's insistence that this curse could be broken with brute force.
“... Guess I can get out of swimming lessons, haha…” Akane said awkwardly, “And… Oh, and I can get more clothes for the plushie form. I can be carried places, that's a positive, maybe, um…”
Ranma knew Akane was trying to keep herself from having some kind of panic attack like he did the first time he got cursed, but it was kind of helping him think about things, too. Like there was a bright side to this.
“... It'd be nice to just hide somewhere small, I think,” Ranma joined in, “I kinda feel bad, taking up space here sometimes, so… Yeah.”
“I think it's wonderful that you two are trying to see this in a positive light,” Kasumi smiled softly, “And you can both support each other!”
“I'm just glad it isn't me.” That comment earned Nabiki a slight glare from everyone in the room.
“As long as you two uphold your status as husband and wife, I suppose…” Soun hummed, “It was a lot of effort, sending in that paperwork so soon.”
Akane started to stare daggers at her father. “Husband and wife!? Paperwork!?”
“For the wedding!” Soun started to sweat, “Just because there were two ducks in your place doesn't mean it wasn't still official!”
Ranma didn't even have words. How was he supposed to be a husband like this!? He wasn't even at his own wedding, apparently! But in the eyes of the law, now, far more concrete than anything else, Ranma was married to Akane, the girl who was absolutely furious in that moment.
Soun had found himself flattened under the dining room table. Ranma did not envy that experience in the slightest.
◇◇◇◇
Akane couldn't even pretend to sleep after everything. How could she? She'd been not kidnapped, then actually kidnapped, threatened to be turned into a duck, got actually turned into a plushie, and now is unwillingly married to a boy going through arguably a worse identity crisis.
She was not okay. No matter how many bright sides she looked for, her curse was horrifying to a degree from every angle. Akane, at any moment, could be made soft and vulnerable, and it only took a splash of water.
Akane wasn't meant to be vulnerable, dammit! She was a tough girl who could take down anyone dumb enough to try and fight her. Even if she didn't feel like she should… Even if she wanted to still sometimes be that delicate girl she realised she wasn't…
There was a knock on her door, quiet and scared. Once opened, the face of a very embarrassed Ranma Saotome stood on the other side, his singlet and boxers way too big on his petite frame. There were tears, or at least the bit of them he clearly had missed while trying to wipe them from his face.
“... Pops won't let me sleep in the same room as him till I can turn back into a guy,” The redhead sniffled a little, trying not to, “A-and I… I can't sleep alone… So…”
“... Come in,” Akane said against her better judgement, “I can't sleep either.”
Ranma seemed to be ashamed, having admitted something so… Unmanly. It was weird seeing him having almost given up on something, but it was understandable. Unless there was some way to become a boy again, his whole identity kind of got entirely uprooted.
“You… You don't have to sleep on the floor, you know,” The blue haired girl offered out of partial pity, “You're physically a girl, so… So…”
Even in the dark, Ranma's blush was highly visible. “O-oh, I… ‘Kane, what about… But what if…”
“... When I was younger, I used to sleep in the bed with a family member when I couldn't sleep, it always helped,” Akane admitted quietly, “S-so stop being stubborn, it might help me.”
“... If you s-say so…” Ranma hesitated, “B-but just because we're both girls, well I'm a girl physically, but it's that, and not that we're… Y'know…”
“Yes, Ranma, I get it,” Sighing, Akane simply laid down, facing the wall, “Just don't hog the blanket and it'll be okay.”
There wasn't a verbal response, but Akane could feel the mattress shift slightly as the redhead lied down. It was good that P-chan wasn't present. That little piglet didn't like Ranma at all, and probably wouldn't approve of sharing the bed. Oh well.
◇◇◇◇
She woke up, surrounded by blankets, warmth, and comfort. The calloused left hand of the girl hugging her from behind had found its way to her right hand, pressed into her palm. She felt the comfiest she had ever been, safe and wanted, soft.
Ranma had to snap back to his cold, harsh reality.
After waking up like that, neither Ranma or Akane were making eye contact with anyone at the table during breakfast. Not even each other, not even while pushed to sit next to each other by Soun.
Although, it wasn't like Ranma had gotten to eat anything anyway. Not with the full force of his dad sending him out the dining room, into the koi pond, without warning. “Get some training in, boy! You shouldn't start slacking off!”
The transformation was as instant as always, but far more disorienting. The volume of water displaced by the human form came rushing back inwards on the plushie before Ranma could even register how to move again, launching his small body upwards and out of the pond, right into Akane's hands.
“... No training?” Akane whispered, to which Ranma nodded. How could he fight like this?
Hugging Ranma close to her chest protectively, Akane walked past the somewhat shocked Genma, straight towards the kettle in the kitchen. Something about being held felt incredibly comforting, even if the whole scenario was so odd.
“Mr Saotome,” The blue haired girl death-stared the bald man as she poured water on the plush she placed on the floor, “Either be careful with him and don't get him wet, or don't fight him at all. You can't beat this out of him.”
“What!? Don't be ridiculous!” Ranma's father towered over the redhead as their eyes met, “You can fight, right, boy!? You can make it past this, despite both of your pitiful forms!”
Pitiful. His dad acknowledged him as pitiful. Ranma wasn't able to become that peak of masculinity ever again, and honestly? He didn't think he should try. It was too dangerous. He wasn't going to live up to who he had been ever again.
“... Sorry, Pops, but I gotta get ready for school,” Ranma walked away, ignoring the shock on his dad's face, “Besides, do I really look like a boy to you right now? Get it right.”
◇◇◇◇
Ranma had gotten very used to avoiding the washer woman on the way to school.
Akane had not.
“Shit, I forgot to warn you,” Ranma said, picking up the pile of clothes to put in his bag first, “She can be one hell of a shot, maybe we should find another route…”
Akane shrugged as she got scooped up into Ranma's arms. It wasn't worth throwing everything out of routine for this, right? She should just try and shrug it off. Akane would push through, she had to push through. She…
She found being carried gently by Ranma oddly comforting, which had to be weird. Being a plushie wasn't supposed to come with comforting things. Akane shouldn't like being so helpless as to need to be carried places.
“There's hot water in the nurse's office, they'll probably be okay with you using it now,” Ranma thought aloud, “... And they'll probably need to be updated on what's happening with my curse, too. Two birds, one stone, I guess.”
The rest of the way to school was daunting for Akane, especially as there were other students on the approach. She expected shocked gasps, laughing at her, the stuff you'd expect to hear after being turned into a plushie.
“Why does Saotome seem so… Scared?”
“Why isn't he a boy right now, that perv!”
“Is that a stuffed toy he's holding!?”
All the attention went to Ranma instead, and Akane could feel how his breathing seemed to tighten. There wasn't really anything to do, though, not like this… Well, except for reminding Ranma she was here for him.
Lightly tapping Ranma's arm with her little plushie hands, Akane knew her mission was accomplished when she felt a little bit more squished. Her presence had been acknowledged, even if it just resulted in getting pressed more into Ranma's chest.
… Akane was going to avoid thinking about that last part any further.
“RANMA! SHOW YOURSELF!” At the sound of Kuno's shout, Akane found herself squeezed tighter yet again, “HAND OVER AKANE TENDOU, YOU COW- Oh, pigtailed girl! Greetings!”
“... H-hi…” Ranma said shyly, trying to walk past.
“Would you happen to know where Ranma is? I must have his head for what he's done!” The swordsman proclaimed, “How could he steal away Akane like that, that dastard!”
Ranma froze in place. “... What d-do you mean by that?”
“Alas, I have… Connections, let's say, to the school staff that told me horrendous news,” Kumo continued, “News that the foul sorcerer has actively wed Akane!”
Akane could feel Ranma's heart beat fast as her own metaphorical heart dropped. She was going to be announced in class as Akane Saotome, wasn't she? She wasn't going to be able to avoid it. Normalcy was out the window.
“H-hahaaa, wow, w-wild…” Ranma said before making a full sprint for the school doors, skidding through the halls to get to the nurse's office before any more questions were asked.
◇◇◇◇
“Alright, class, two of your peers have an announcement to make,” The substitute teacher called out, “So listen carefully.”
The murmurs amongst the class as Ranma and Akane stood at the front with a kettle were not exactly comforting. Even if they weren't going to hear the whole truth, the thing Ranma had to share was not going to be pleasant.
“So…” Akane breathed in and out, “Something… Something really bad happened to me and Ranma, and we're not comfortable talking about it, but… We have emotional support plushies for it. Therapist recommended. Mine looks like Ranma and Ranma's looks like me…”
The were a few giggles around the room, and a particularly harsh look from Ukyo at the back. “No fucking way…” The okonomiyaki chef mumbled.
Akane continued. “Please, if they get lost at all, bring them back to us.”
“Also, I…” Ranma took a moment, recognising that he was really doing this as he held the borrowed kettle over his head, “... My curse is stuck permanently. No cure.”
The hot water poured over his red hair, the gasp from the class, the sound of Ukyo slamming her table. It was all just a little too much for Ranma to continue.
“... Right, well, I didn't understand that last part, but thank you…” The substitute squinted at the roll-call, “Mrs and Mrs Tendou?”
The whole class uproar as Ranma briefly mentally froze. The school had been informed he was married, and… He was Ranma Tendou now, apparently. Not Saotome. He'd check later, it was the dads who did the paperwork, but-
Two spatulas were flung, a centimetre apart from Ranma and Akane's faces each. Ukyo had a look on her face that was almost unreadable aside from anger, but she just huffed and sat back down, looking away from everything. No more threats were made.
And then came the gossip, just as crushing and invasive as it had been on Ranma's first day of school. The only was that this time? There was no easy escape, no way he would be jumping into a pool today.
He had to take the gossip like a man.
Ranma didn't know if he could do that.
◇◇◇◇
“And you're trusting us with this because…?” Yuka said, casually waving around the thermos she'd been handed, “If it's such a big secret, why share it with four people?”
Akane and Ranma had gathered the small group during lunch, all mainly Akane's friends. “So that we have classmates that can help cover for us if we disappear,” The blue haired girl answered, “Because knowing our luck…”
“Wait, is this a martial artist kind of thing? Is someone new after both of you?” Hiroko leaned forward, excited, “Could you be killed?”
“A life threatening situation would be pretty traumatic…” Sayuri mused.
“I ain't letting ‘Kane die!” Ranma spoke up with a little bit of his expected bravado, only to shrink back inwards on himself, “... It's a curse thing, anyway.”
Yuka gestured with the thermos. “Well duh.”
“So is Ranma still able to turn into a boy? Cos that'd suck.” Asami asked, but didn't wait, using her water bottle to splash Ranma.
“A-” Was all the redhead could say before the small plushie fell to the floor, swamped by his clothes.
“HOLY SHIT, ASAMI, YOU JUST KILLED HER!” Hiroko screamed, until the plushie emerged through the collar of the shirt, “... Or shrunk her?”
“He's got a new curse, and it kind of messed with her old one. And I… Well…” Sitting down, Akane let the water bottle she was holding spill over her. The bottle hit the seat by the time she had been transformed.
The four friends looked at the plushies as they both wormed their way out of their human sized outfits. At least the plushie versions had magically summoned miniature copies of the clothes. That made Akane feel way less awkward than the alternative…
[Can I threaten to slap Asami?] Ranma asked, almost kinda glad only the two could understand each other like this.
“... OH MY GOSH, SO CUTE!” Asami picked up both plushies, and started to move them towards each other, “Now, KISS!”
[SLAP HER SLAP HER DO IT JUST GO DO IT.] Akane thought while pitifully tapping at Asami's hand in protest.
It was Sayuri’s hand that stopped the ‘kiss’ though, although the toys did get pressed up against said hand. “Have you forgotten that these are actually people!? People who are probably not very happy to be stuffies!?”
“But the romantic potential is off the charts, they're already married!” The pout on Asami's face didn't spawn much sympathy as she let the toys go, “The only thing that'd make this better was if they… Oh my gosh, they do!”
Akane hadn't realised what Asami meant until she looked to find just how naturally her hand magnetically attached to Ranma's. Both plushies looked at each other for a moment, a mutual feeling of embarrassment growing, before struggling and failing to pull themselves apart.
“Martial Arts Magnet Hands…” Hiroko said in awe.
The blue felt/hair plushie felt that was a bit too silly to actually be a thing.
“Now, I'm guessing this'll turn you back,” Yuka chimed in, again swishing around the thermos, “But based on how your clothes are currently piles on the floor, should we get you two somewhere private?”
Neither Ranma or Akane had thought about that, and were both looking at the ground as the universal symbol of embarrassment. This at least was a fair reason to tell the group, though. They'd help. They'd hopefully not smoosh the plushies’ faces together while doing so, but they'd help regardless. It was worth the little bit of secrecy lost.
◇◇◇◇
The walk home from school was safer in the sense that the washer woman wouldn't snipe unexpecting martial artists with water. It was safer because Kuno had kendo club after school, giving more ample time to leave.
It wasn't safe from much else.
The jingle of cat bells, the ring of a bicycle bell, the clanging of bike chains. Ranma and Akane had let go of each other's hands just to avoid the incoming crash. After all, Shampoo wasn't exactly the best at parking that thing.
“Airen!” Shampoo leaped off the bike as it continued to crash into some nearby trash cans, “You are girl type, so you are not a duck! Good!”
Ranma weaved out of the way of the incoming tackle hug. “Y-yeah, I… I'm not a duck, yeah.”
“And so neither is Violent Girl…” There was a good amount of disappointment in Shampoo's voice, “Of course, Mousse failed. That is to be expected.”
Would turning into a duck be worse than turning into a plushie? While a duck could probably fight back, at least a plushie can be brought into places a duck can't. And… Well, Ranma didn't want to admit how it was kind of comfy, being treated with more care than the living weapon he was raised to be.
“Can you just let us go home, Shampoo?” Akane asked as the Amazon successfully glomped the redhead on the second attempt, “Yesterday was a lot, we're kind of needing some space.”
“There's space for Airen at the Nekohanten!” Shampoo insisted as Ranma tried to pry her off him, “And there's a kettle waiting so he can be a man again!”
“... Shampoo, I'm not… I'm not being a man again,” Ranma said as Shampoo finally let go, “I can't.”
The purple haired girl tilted her head in confusion. “But you're a man? I know how Jusenkyo works, I am not getting tricked again like the first time.”
“Do I look like a man to you?” The redhead asked, “Because… Because you're not seeing me with black hair ever again. I'm… I'm a girl now.”
There was a look on Akane's face that Ranma could only describe as concerned, despite it seeming like something else, too. Shampoo, however, only seemed frustrated. The Amazon glared through Ranma's soul, and he just wanted out.
“... I will learn what you are hiding, Airen,” Shampoo threatened, “You are still married to me.”
“Not in the eyes of the law…” Akane mumbled under her breath, earning herself a deadly glare from Shampoo. However, nothing fatal came from the conflict. No, the Amazon simply leaped away, a quiet threat hanging in the air.
The married couple stood there for a moment, slowly drifting back together. There had been no cold water, thankfully, but there was still conflict. A shadow on the horizon. Something Ranma should've gotten over and done with, but was too scared to.
“... Ranma, are… Are you really sure you don't want to at least try being a man again?” Asked Akane, “I understand that-”
“I'm tired, ‘Kane,” Ranma whispered, “I… I just wanna go home. I don't want to be someone I can't be right now.”
His hand slipped into Akane's so naturally. “... Awright, we can go home then.”
◇◇◇◇
“Kasumi… Where did you even get all of these?”
Akane looked over the piles of toy-sized clothes, many with Velcro to put them on and off easier. Ranma couldn't look, being too busy getting embarrassed by how all the clothes were very distinctly feminine.
“I simply visited a toy store and asked, Akane,” Kasumi said with an excited smile, “I thought you'd appreciate the variety. It's a shame that the only clothes for plushes your size weren't made with boys in mind, my apologies.”
“It's… It's fine,” The redhead said, not fine, “I'm not a guy, I-I can handle other clothes.”
“Oh, you aren't? Good then!” The eldest Tendou sister clapped her hands together, “So I hopefully didn't go overboard! Especially given my extra purchases…”
“No, not overboard at all…” Akane lied, thinking about the slightly absurd amount of actual plushies that were now in her room thanks to her sister, “My only question is, why?”
“I thought it'd better explain why you have so many clothes for plushies now, should someone ask. That, and should either of you need to hide among things, you can.”
“Makes sense to me, kinda,” Ranma said while picking up a particularly pink piece of plushie clothing, “Thanks, Kasumi.”
“You're welcome, Ranma-chan.” Kasumi said as she left the bedroom, causing Ranma to temporarily freeze in shock.
“... Ranma?” Akane was concerned, given how her partner was repeatedly reminded of his current situation. He acted so off every single time, it was noticeable. It was just another reminder of how different this curse made him, probably, and-
“Would it be weird if I tried sleeping as a plushie tonight?”
“What?” That wasn't what Akane was expecting, to say the least.
“I… I wanna try having time just as a plushie, after dinner,” Ranma explained, “You don't have to, I just…”
Ranma looked at his hands, as dainty as they always had been in girl form. Akane could see exhaustion in his eyes, the war of a million little thoughts slowing down. The redhead looked fragile. Soft.
“... I need to work out who Ranma, the girl you're married to, is. And she just so happens to have a curse I understand even less,” The redhead confessed, “I might as well try to learn what it's like, and why it can sometimes feel just a little bit, uh, comforting, first.”
“The girl I'm… Okay,” Akane held out her left hand, “We can both spend the night figuring plushie stuff out, together… Me and my wife.”
Ranma shyly held Akane's hand with her right. “... Thanks.”
◇◇◇◇
“And where do you think you're going, boy?” Genma shouted up the staircase, “There's still time to-”
“FOR THE LAST TIME, WHAT ‘BOY’ IS THERE!?” Ranma screeched back, slamming Akane's bedroom door behind her afterwards.
The redhead leaned against the door, catching her breath, as Akane looked at her with pity. Dinner had been a back and forth screaming match between father and child, particularly on how Genma still insisted he could have a son. But Ranma didn't feel like a son. She felt the same as she did before losing her birth form, but it was clear that feeling wasn't of manhood. Was she never a boy to begin with?
“... He'd be better off trying to train one of the ducks.” The redhead whispered, somewhere between a joke and a genuine opinion.
Akane giggled like it was only the former. “It isn't like there's a Saotome heir to train otherwise, right, Mrs Tendou?”
“Heh, yeah,” Ranma lifted herself back up, “Alright, so… Plushie time?”
The two looked at the two plastic cups of water they had ready on the table. “... Maybe we do some more prep first.” Akane suggested.
First thing to do was adjust all the pillows and blankets on Akane's bed to make something kind of cosy for their smaller selves. Almost like a little nest, they'd at least not risk falling off any time during the night should they move in their sleep.
The next thing? “So… How are we supposed to pick toy pyjamas, ‘Kane?”
“Hmm… Oh, this would look cute on you!” Akane held up what looked to be a plushie sized princess dress, although its white fabric made Ranma think of weddings.
“Do you really want me to try and sleep in that?” Ranma rustled through some clothes herself, “Maybe… Ha, do ya wanna dress like a knight at night?”
“Ugh, normal pyjamas it is,” The blue haired girl forfeited, “... But you're getting something cute and frilly.”
“Fine, I'll be your dr-” The words Ranma stopped herself from saying sent such a shiver down her spine, she forced them out anyway, “... dress up doll.”
Both martial artists stared at each other, blushing for a moment. Something had clearly clicked in both of their minds. Something that felt weird, like they shouldn't be thinking it, but then again… Well, if Shampoo sometimes seemed to enjoy her curse…
“... Only if I'm also your dress up doll…” Akane mumbled, face almost as red as her wife's hair.
Ranma had never gone looking through miniature clothing so fast in her life.
Once outfits had been chosen and placed on Akane's bed, the two humans sat down next to each other on top of the towel that'd been placed at the end of the mattress. Then, in unison, they tipped the plastic cups of water over themselves.
Ranma's cup bounced off of her plush little head. [Ow, fuck!]
Akane stifled a giggle, her fingerless plush hand held up to her stitched on smile doing nothing to stop the thought of laughter projecting into Ranma's mind.
The process of taken off the magically summoned miniature outfit copies was a little hard, and definitely awkward. They were lucky the tiny red Chinese shirt and small blue dress were only held together by velcro, so it only took them helping each other to take them off and put the pyjamas on.
The plushie with red felt for hair had never worn a nightie before, so this was yet another new experience. Of course, the baby blue dress wasn't as high quality as some human clothes, and it was more like a t-shirt dress, completely opaque.
The blue felt hair counterpart owned pyjama shirt and pants sets like this for humans, but the little pink love hearts on white were new. They were even a little comfortably roomy, the sleeves a little too long without pushing them up.
[Adorable…] Both plushies thought about the other, both feeling just a little giddy hearing that.
Both plushies climbed over the pillows and into the soft little nest they made beforehand. Snuggling into one of the pillows, they instinctively sat next to each other in such a way that their hands could magnetically snap together. After all, if they were trying to see what their curse was like, they'd be a matching set like the curse made them.
[It's comfy, not being expected to fight, y'know?] Ranma thought quietly, [I kinda, I dunno, like being soft like this. Not some kind of weapon…]
[Yeah…] Akane responded, [I… I never got to be delicate, even when I grew my hair out. This is different. I think I like it.]
The two plushies continued just chatting over the little things until both of their minds told them they were tired enough to sleep. Not that their bodies showed it, of course, but the two shared sweet dreams.
◇◇◇◇
Shuffling through the Tendou household so low to the floor was awkward and uncomfortable, as most places made for humans only were. Climbing up the stairs, taking far more steps, even just opening doors without hands would be hard enough for someone of human height.
Unfortunately, he wasn't. Not right now.
Ryoga, in piglet form, was able to move relatively freely through the house. However, it being so late at night, he only had Akane's bedroom in mind. ‘P-chan’ was allowed in for cuddles in the middle of the night, there wasn't any point going anywhere else bar Akane's cuddly, loving arms.
Managing to get the door open, though, Ryoga couldn't see Akane in bed. Perhaps she was having a late night toilet break? Whatever, he could wait there for her. The piglet jumped onto the bed, a little confused by the set up he saw.
Nestled into blankets and pillows, two plushies sat with their hands attached. One with red felt for hair, the other blue.
Now, Ryoga never was the best at facial recognition, but he could tell by hair colour that this was meant to be representative of Ranma's female form and Akane. Given the way they were presented among the blankets, they must've been left for when Akane returns from something else, much further than just the toilet.
… That just couldn't do! Not some crude symbol of Ranma and Akane being together, when it should be Ryoga in the pigtailed boy's place! If this was some gift, and it managed to win Akane over, then who knows how bad Ryoga's chances would be?
He had to change this, now. Maybe, if he made it look like P-chan brought the Akane representative for her…
Ryoga began the oddly difficult task of separating the plushies’ magnetic hands. The hold they had on each other was strong, and hooves weren't helping push them apart any easier. Eventually, though, the magnets had been detached, and Ryoga was free to drag the unnecessary Ranma lookalike anywhere he wanted.
… Akane did keep a wastepaper basket by her desk.
Tossing the unattractive, brash, rude plush in the bin, Ryoga shuffled back over to the sweet and adorable plush in the blanket nest. Ryoga then got himself comfortable, ready to have the real Akane gush over ‘his’ gift to her in the morning.
Heh, and they didn't even get a boy plushie to represent Ranma. How pathetic must he be?
◇◇◇◇
Akane's vision fuzzed back in as it woke up, feeling oddly alone. It was missing something, something important to it… And it was surrounded by warmth, something it couldn't produce, nor could…
[Ranma?] It- No, she, only she. She thought, realising that her partner was missing from her side.
Trying to push herself up, Akane was pinned under a breathing mass of black fuzz that wasn't budging. P-chan was holding her down, asleep. Out of all the times for the piglet to sneak into its room, Akane realised this was probably one of the worst.
[‘Kane!] The call for help came from somewhere on the floor, [‘Kane, this one i- I mean, I'm down here!]
[Ranma, this- I'm stuck!] Struggling, Akane called back, [P-chan's on me!]
[That asshole!] A small sound like a magnet sticking to metal could be heard, [He must've thrown me in the trash, then!]
Akane wasn't normally one to get mad at her pet, but it had reason to this time. A small, plush imitation of Akane's usual wooden mallet appeared in its magnetic hand, although not feeling as comfortable as Ranma's hand would've.
[P-CHAN, YOU IDIOT!] Akane thought like a war cry as many soft little baps rained down on the piglet.
Stirring awake from the mild disturbance, P-chan sniffled as he looked to see what was going on. His oinks sounded incredibly confused once he saw the blue felt-haired plush awake and moving, quickly jumping away in shock.
Wobbling upright, Akane rushed over to the end of the bed to look over the edge for her partner. Barely wobbling the wastepaper basket, her Ranma was struggling to get out. The poor thing wasn't exactly doing it with dignity, either.
Akane tried to reach over the side, but her tiny little arms wouldn't help at all. [I can't reach it…]
P-chan seemed to have realised how wrong what he did was, because, albeit hesitantly, he hopped down off the bed and knocked over the wastepaper basket himself. As Ranma tumbled out, the piglet looked a bit guilty.
[It was his fault, okay…] Ranma thought, now that it wasn't struggling to break out of a bin, [My Akane didn't throw me out… I'm n-not garbage… I'm… Th-this one isn't…]
Akane jumped down to the floor with a light thud, scrambling to get itself next to its counterpart. [Not garbage at all. My Ranma is not ever garbage.]
Hands connecting together, the sense of missing something disappeared completely. The plushies were with their matching counterpart and their owner at the same time, those roles being fulfilled by one and the same. They felt safe again, loved, like they belonged and the world made sense aga-
[SHIT, WE HAVE SCHOOL TODAY!] The two immediately panicked as the soft, fluffy brain fog cleared out of their minds.
Going through the door P-chan presumably left open, Ranma and Akane dashed and stumbled through the house. The black piglet followed from behind, curious as to where the toys were heading.
The bathroom door was thankfully open enough to get into, the furo full but unoccupied. Leaving the small pyjamas on the floor, the two toys used the stool as a large staircase up into the tub, jumping in with their hands connected.
The red and blue haired girls emerged from the water, fingers intertwined, looking at each other slightly embarrassed while taking their first breaths of air. After the small amount of remaining panic subsided, the two laughed at the whole situation, at themselves and each other.
P-chan stared from the doorway in horror, and the white and pink cat looking through the window was just as freaked out.
◇◇◇◇
“So what if you think of yourself as a girl now?” Hiroshi asked, “I identify more with a slice of cheese or a can of paint than I do with most boys, and you still see me hanging around Dai here.”
“Wait, you what?” Daisuke seemed shocked at the impromptu gender reveal.
To be fair, Ranma was just as surprised. Having been cornered by the two b- uh… By her two friends, she expected them to just ditch her, instead of asking about the traumatic thing that Ranma and Akane mentioned the day before. But what Hiroshi said about identifying with things beyond boy and girl…
“So, if I, uh, hypothetically, said I felt like a plushie sometimes…” Ranma trailed off, not finishing her sentence.
“Well then I sometimes have a plushie for a friend,” Hiroshi said nonchalantly, “Wouldn't be the first.”
“Huh? You already-”
“I have a life outside of school, dude.” The shorter of the two friends cut off the taller one.
So, whatever Ranma was feeling that morning… The idea of being Akane's plushie more than a person, however fleeting or weird or… Or comfortable… Ranma could just be that? She… It… Ranma could be that?
… It had to tell her Akane.
“That might not be a hypothetical question anymore,” Ranma mumbled, “I… I might sometimes be a plushie, and a girl, and maybe both…”
“Congratulations on the fun gender again, then,” Hiroshi grinned, “You deserve it after you lost your old other form.”
“O-oh, um… I should probably tell you two…” The redhead took out her water bottle from her bag, “Can you take me and my stuff to Akane?”
“Oh, sure. But wh-” Hiroshi shut up pretty quickly once Ranma turned into its full plushie body.
“... Hiroshi, maybe I'm just a normal guy, but can all people with other genders do that?” Daisuke asked, confused as fuck.
“... Get me a glass of water, I'll check.”
◇◇◇◇
“And then ve poured vis water all over verself, even though we've all seen ver during swimming lessons so ve obviously isn't cursed,” Ranma giggled as she retold what happened, “I don't even know what Hiroshi was expecting…”
Akane wasn't fully paying attention to that part, more focused on an earlier detail. “Sorry, I'm just checking, it's… It's okay for us to be plushies as a gender thing? Hypothetically?”
“Yes!” Ranma squeezed her wife's hand as they continued to walk home, “Hypothetically AND actually! And… And I think that kinda suits me. Better than ‘man’ and ‘one person army’, at least…”
“... Maybe that might work for me, too,” Akane thought about her little identity issue that morning, of being a girl vs being a thing, she vs it, “... I'm still a girl, but… I…”
Ranma, in a move she never would have done as a boy, squealed as she suddenly hugged Akane. “Me too! I actually kinda understand where I stand as Ranma Tendou, and it just fits! I'm… This one is your Ranma!”
The pure energy in the redhead’s proclamation was infectious, and Akane couldn't help but smile. Something about just being two girls/things that live for each other and love each other felt better than anything else. Ranma wasn't going to be some jerk boy who didn't let Akane decide. It was Akane's wife, who'd take the lead when needed and back off when not. Akane was allowed to be delicate and vulnerable when she needed to be…
“And this one is your Akane,” The response came easy when it thought about things that way, “It's happy to be all yours, if you're all hers.”
Ranma scooped Akane into her arms, a bit silly given how much shorter the redhead was, but still enough to make Akane's heart skip a beat. “You know it, dollface.”
While the two giggled over the choice of nickname, a giant spatula clanked against the pavement behind them. Ukyo just witnessed the biggest display of affection she'd ever seen, and it wasn't even that overly affectionate, with kissing and all. If there was ever any way to lose…
“Hey Ranchan, Hey Akane,” Ukyo decided to simply walk past the couple, “Congrats on getting engaged and all… Sorry I took it harshly when I first heard…”
“Oh, thanks Ucchan, it-” The okonomiyaki chef was gone before Ranma could even start the sentence, let alone continue it.
◇◇◇◇
Genma was sent flying into the koi pond, disrupting the two ducks floating atop the water and making them fly away. “See, Pops?” Ranma boasted a little, “No training required, because you still keep getting beaten by a girl!”
“I do wish you'd stop disturbing Ranm-Ahiru and A-Kamo in your arguments…” Kasumi mused as she fetched the kettle for the incoming panda.
Akane nearly spat out its soda. “You named the ducks!?”
Ranma turned around, just as confused as its guard lowered. “You KEPT the ducks!?”
“Of course. It'd be rude not to,” Kasumi said so matter-of-factly that there was no way to rebut it, “After all, they had your wedding. It's awful how ducks are allowed to get married while same sex couples can't…”
Genma started to scribble something on a sign in protest, but underneath Kasumi's stare, he nervously backed down and pulled out a rainbow pride flag instead, sweating.
“... Hey, ‘Kane?” Ranma asked, “Remember that white frilly dress from last night? The one before you chose the nightie?”
“The one that looked like a bridal go-” Akane paused as she realised what was implied, blushing, “O-oh… You'd still look cute in it…”
“All we'd need is to find you a second one, and-”
The wall had been smashed through, Shampoo's visage appearing through the dust and rubble. She seemed near furious, chui gripped with white knuckles. It was all the more shocking when she simply dropped them.
“Why didn't you tell me you had a different curse!?” Shampoo charged forward, towering over the short redhead, “I can fix you, Airen, if you come to China with me and-”
“I don't want to be fixed!” Ranma held her ground, “I don't wanna be made a man again, or leave, or whatever! I don't care if it's dumb that being a person hurts sometimes! This one is staying here with its wife, and you can't change its mind!”
There was a confused and angry growl from the panda behind Ranma, but it didn't care. Right now, the focus was all on Shampoo as she tried to comprehend a particular part of that small angry rant.
“... Hurts to be a person sometimes?” The Amazon asked quietly, “You too?”
“We compared how we feel about our curses to how you seem to feel about yours,” Akane spoke up, “You seem to like being a cat sometimes. We like being plushies.”
Another roar from Genma went ignored in favour of Shampoo. “And Airen can't be a toy without being a girl…”
“I guess? It's nice being a girl, anyway.” Ranma explained.
“... Shampoo will leave the plushies alone, she understands,” The purple haired girl sighed, “Shampoo is a good cat…”
… So, that explained why Shampoo liked her cat form. She really was like Ranma and Akane, just with something other than plushies. And in her human form, that technically made Shampoo count as a big cat, not the same kind of cat physically that'd trigger the nekoken, like how tigers and lions were sa-
Genma, in his distaste towards Ranma's declaration of womanhood and all this non-human talk, delivered a fierce kick that sent Ranma flying into Shampoo, the two tumbling into the koi pond.
Ranma could only feel herself shrink for a moment before its eyes latched onto the cat right beside her, and she was so vulnerable, and even though one cat was normally a little safe it was still so small… And… And…
◇◇◇◇
“Mr Saotome, how could you!?” Kasumi gasped as she tipped the hot water the panda was reaching for down the sink.
“Ranma!” Akane got up and rushed to the koi pond, only for something curious to come into view.
Full kitty form Shampoo had the plushie held in her mouth like a cat scruffing a kitten by the neck. Curiously enough, the red felt-haired plushie had a cat mouth stitched in place of the usual smile, two little red felt cat ears, a red tail, and a fabric collar with a little tag on the front.
“... Oh no, you're…” Akane looked at her plush counterpart as Shampoo let it go, the catgirl plushie being extremely wobbly as it tried to get used to this body, “... You're just so adorable!”
The nekoken stared up at Akane, pawing at the ground as if asking its owner to make walking make more sense. Poor little kitty, all confused by the floppy, soft body unlike anything it had before…
“Okay, let's get you inside, awright?” Gently picking up the toy cat, Akane noticed how the collar had ‘Neko, property of Akane’ written on the small tag.
Starting to feel unwanted, and still upset about giving up Ranma, the pink and white cat form of Shampoo started to wander away. However, Akane knew that the nekoken always was okay with other cats around, so maybe…
“Pspsps, Shampoo! Do you want to come inside with us?” Akane offered, “We can talk to my Ranma about how to handle your cat body later, but for now, you might as well be welcome to spend some time with us if you want!”
The cat looked slightly sceptical.
“I think we have a cardboard box we can put a pillow in.”
Shampoo immediately started to follow behind Akane, excitedly making happy chirps.
◇◇◇◇
Ranma woke up with an overwhelming feeling of safety enveloping it. Even after knowing that the cat had been in control, something about her knew that everything was going to be okay, and that it was loved.
“Oh, there goes the cat traits,” A gentle whisper came from above it, “Hi, my Ranma.”
[My Akane…] Ranma thought, unheard. She finally was able to piece together exactly where she was. Sitting down, in Akane's lap, in Akane's bedroom, getting cuddles. That's why it felt so safe, even when-
There was Shampoo, the cat, lounging on Akane's desk with one ear perked up to listen to the conversation. Ranma repeatedly tapped on Akane's arm in panic once she saw.
“Don't worry, Shampoo promised to keep a distance from you,” Akane explained, “She just needs kitty time. And, um, speaking of…”
Akane held Ranma so the plushie could see the kettle and the cup of water beside the bed on the floor. “... Your Akane might need time as a plushie getting hugged, soon. If that's okay. This one… This one is a little jealous of you…”
Oh, that made sense. Ranma nodded, letting herself get put on the floor so the kettle could be poured on her. “Hey, ‘Kane. Just let me put some clothes on, and then I can take care of you.”
“Th-thank you…” The blue haired girl was shyly looking away as its wife put on sweatpants and a red t-shirt, “Could… Could you pick something for your dress up doll, too?”
“Oh, yeah, sure!” The redhead went digging through the small box of plushie sized clothes the two had, “You really need this, huh.”
“Yeah, sorry…”
Ranma settled on a simple to put on dress in green for her soon to be plushie. “You helped the nekoken, so you helped me. What kind of matching plushie would I be if I didn't return the favour? My honour as your wife is at stake, dollface.”
Akane giggled a little at Ranma's overly dramatic performance. “You're really a fool sometimes.”
“Yeah, but I'm your fool,” Ranma picked up the cup of water before holding Akane's left hand with her right, “Now, c’mon, let's see that cute plushie of mine.”
The water poured over Akane, leaving the soft toy in Ranma's hand kind of awkwardly half stuck in a human sized shirt sleeve. “... Right, no handholding like that next time. Got it.”
Getting Akane out of the sleeve and the magically summoned clothes she had, then into the green dress Ranma picked out for the plush, was easy. The blue felt-haired plushie was very eager to be taken care of like that, after all.
“Okay, let's get all cuddled in, then.” Ranma spoke aloud as she reorganised pillows on the bed so she could sit upright comfortably. Then, sitting down, she held her plushie close to her chest, safe and secure. Akane hugged back.
There was a meow from Akane's desk, catching Ranma's attention again. Shampoo was sitting upright, looking almost expectantly at the end of the bed. She was only one cat, and a well behaved one, and holding Akane made Ranma feel a little better…
“F-fine. We can try letting you get close,” Ranma said, only a little unsure, “But I h-have every right to ask you to give me more space, okay?”
The cat was happy with that, slinking down from the desk, along the floor, and happily jumping onto the end of the bed. As Shampoo curled up into a comfy little ball of fluff, Ranma cursed itself for actually finding a catlike behaviour kind of cute.
◇◇◇◇
“RANMA SAOTOME! PREPARE TO-”
Ryoga had burst into Akane's room, ready to throw that bastard into the trash once and for all. He found the redhead, peacefully asleep on his side, clutching the helpless plushie of Akane close to his chest. However, it was piercing feline eyes that caught the most attention.
Ryoga took a single step forward, only for Shampoo to stance up angrily and hiss. The girl in cat form wasn't letting this go without a fight, and Ryoga refused to hit a girl like that. Once he backed down, Shampoo jumped to the ground and pawed at the kettle on the floor.
“Oh, you want this?” Ryoga grabbed the kettle, causing the cat to nod, “Uh, here you g-”
The moment the warm water turned the feline human, Ryoga was dragged out to the hallway by the Amazon. “Quiet, Lost Boy. Do not wake up Shampoo's plushies.”
“Y-your plushies?” Ryoga sputtered, trying hard not to look down at the naked girl pinning him to the wall, “Akane isn't even Ranma's, he must've-”
“Quiet. Those two are not to be separated,” Shampoo's grip on Ryoga's neck tightened, “Try to, and Shampoo will have found a new pig shaped cat toy, understood?”
“B-but Ranma-”
“It did nothing you are planning to accuse it of,” The minimal lighting in the hall reflected off of Shampoo's eyes, “And Shampoo is so close to happiness, so do not ruin this for her. She does not want to be a bad kitty to protect her plushies.”
Shampoo let go of Ryoga, turning around to go find some cold water to turn back, before the fanged boy coughed out another question. “... Why are you stopping me, when you're just as obsessed about getting between them?”
“First, Shampoo is not ‘getting between them’,” The Amazon corrected, “Shampoo is happy with multiple partners in the future. Second, you like being held by Akane, as a pet. Would you hold her gently if she asked you?”
“... I mean, yeah, but-”
“No buts.”
Ryoga paused to think for a moment. “... I'd rather not. I'm not good at leading hugs like that. But she doesn't mind, right?”
Shampoo sighed, gesturing into the bedroom. “What does it look like?”
True enough, Akane was still being held by Ranma, just as Akane would hold P-chan. She… She would've fought her way out of it if she didn't want that, right? Akane wouldn't have gone to sleep as a toy if she didn't want that.
“They are a matching pair of plushies, Lost Boy. Shampoo is deciding to let them be, and if she has two wives?” The Amazon shrugged, “Then she has two wives. And she will happily do whatever it takes for them to be happy. Could you?”
“I… Wait, two wives? Isn't Ranma a-”
“Leave. Figure it out on your own, or let it tell you, but leave. Now.”
The final stare down between Shampoo and Ryoga lasted a few seconds, felt like minutes, and could have lasted hours.
“... Shampoo is going back to bed,” The girl wandered off to get her water, “Do not disturb her again.”
“O-okay…” Ryoga sighed as he went to leave, although with one more question, “... You do know you're speaking in third person, right? I know Japanese isn't your first language, and-”
“Shampoo knows. She likes it.”
“... Oh.”
◇◇◇◇
Waking up pressed into its wife's chest was an unintentional but welcomed side effect of sleeping in plushie form for Akane. Compared to waking up trapped by P-chan, this was something Akane could live with.
The snoring cat curled up at Ranma's feet was unexpected, sure, but welcome. If Akane was going to let her gender, body and identity be anything beyond plain vanilla human girl, then it was nice to know someone other than her Ranma who was like that.
“Hey, ‘Kane, are you up?” Ranma whispered, “This one can't tell, cos, well, y'know.”
Akane nodded, making her arms mimic the kind of stretch one would do while yawning.
“Yeah, this one's still sleepy, too,” The redhead got itself upright, placing the plush on the mattress, “We still have some time before we have to be up, would ya mind if you had another toy for company before we have to get ready?”
Gesturing for Ranma to go, Akane waited patiently for her to return with a full cup of cold water. Once the redhead had, the still-physically-human did a little pillow rearranging before splashing itself.
[My Ranma!] The blue felt-haired plushie gave what was the closest she could give to a tackle hug, causing them both to fall over.
[My Akane!] The red felt-haired plush giggled as their hands connected as they always should.
Akane's left hand, magnetically pulled to Ranma's right. A matching set, not to be separated. Two very happy plushies, just working themselves out as things go. Soft, safe, and secure little things filled with love.