Chapter Text
White knuckles gripped the bathroom sink, deep breaths shook against the entire interior, every inch of wall taken up by air, desperate to calm its vessel. Ranma Saotome knows she’s a girl. She’s known that for a while now. She’s put off what's about to happen as long as possible, and done everything in her power to delay it. It was inevitable though, her father can’t be stopped when he sets his mind to something, and she is now arranged as… A “husband” to be the heir of the Tendo family. She shuddered at the word, a pit in her stomach growing at the very concept. Now that she’s 18, there’s not much else she can do. She had insisted, pleaded, and begged, that she at least be of marrying age before meeting this person. A long time of waiting in one place just means more time for something to go wrong.
She’s now officially of age to marry, the wedding is going to happen, and so now she’s here. Living in the Tendo household with her father. It was a small mercy that it rained on the way there. She ended up being the first to arrive at the household. Genma’s insistence on keeping his curse from showing immediately made him look around for hot water, and she knew inevitably he’d get into trouble. Or at the very least that he’d get distracted, most likely at a food stand.
She’d convinced him she just wanted to get her “curse” out of the way, be open, considering she’d be meeting her fiance. That it was only a matter of time for them to find out anyway. He grumbled about it, but allowed it. At least a little bit of time to just be a girl before her father would inevitably come in and ruin everything, just like he always does.
So here she stands. Staring at her own reflection. A beautiful redhead, hair in a pigtail, it’s her. That’s you. She blinked, and found slitted feline eyes staring back at her. She shook her head, shutting her eyelids tight. Deep breaths Ran-Ran, deep breaths. It hadn’t been worth it to come up with a name for herself, she moves around so much she never has people to confide in, and her dad always just introduces her as Ranma anyways. But the little victory of calling herself a cutesy nickname soothes the ache.
Centering herself, she opened her eyes. A regular, blue pair of eyes staring back at her. Back to how it should be, the cat having been staved away for now. Taking one more breath to steel herself, she let the door swing open. A tall man in a gi with a handlebar mustache, she’d heard about the man, Soun Tendo. The father of the household.
The man perked up with a smile as she stepped into the hallway, “Ah! Ranma! I take it you’re ready to meet my daughters?”
As much as I’ll ever be…
“Yes Mr. Tendo.” She tried her best, but her words came out flat, doing everything in her power to not just sigh instead of talk.
“Fantastic! Right this way!” Not one care in his mind, Soun began to walk, encouraging Ranma to follow behind. She did so, begrudgingly, her movements stiff, eyes looking back and forth, waiting for a certain panda to show up and crash the scene, throw a kettle at her or something.
The redhead was led to find 3 girls all sitting down around a table as Soun spoke up, “Ranma, meet my daughters! There’s the youngest, Akane, she’s 19, there’s Nabiki, she’s 20, and there’s Kasumi, she’s 23. Girls! This is Ranma, and one of you is going to be a fiancée! Ranma here is going to unite the Anything-Goes-School of martial arts once again!”
“Hi I’m(Atashi) Ranma Saotome… Sorry about this.” The pit in her stomach was back, she felt like she was being looked up and down, judged by these three. She felt horrible about this entire arranged marriage, but she knew her own hands were tied in the matter. Akane let out a whistful sigh, “Well… I am the one most interested in martial arts, and we’re about the same age right?” Ranma nodded slowly in confirmation. Akane put a hand on her forehead, as if replicating a dramatic Victorian woman, “Then I guess I must, for it’s my duty.” Her words were very forced, but if Ranma didn’t know any better… She’d maybe say she’s enjoying this prospect?! That can’t be right though, because-
“Uh, dad, I don’t know how to tell you this. But that’s a girl.” Nabiki was the first one to pipe up, her head tilted in genuine confusion. Soun looked back to Ranma, then back at his girls, then back to Ranma before looking her up and down, nodding his head. “So it would seem!”
Nabiki’s palm met her forehead, Kasumi’s brow furrowed, and Akane’s face flushed, she’d barely taken her eyes of Ranma the whole time. Very quickly, Akane’s face, Ranma’s face, and Ranma’s hair were all matching reds. Soun starting pinching his mustache, pulling it as he thought, “That’s odd… Genma swore up and down he had a son.”
Akane darted over to Ranma, “Well these mistakes happen, guess I gotta go with my new fiancée okay it was nice talking to you dad bye!” and in a blur, she was gone. In a flash, Ranma was pulled through a door with a little duck plate on it, and found herself standing in a bedroom. Putting two and two together, Akane’s bedroom. She’s in a girl’s bedroom. Okay she’s a girl too, but she’d never been in a real girl’s bedroom before! Her face flushed totally red, and Akane turned to face her, looking at Ranma like she was a Christmas present that’d come early. Based on the way Akane’s eyes sparkled with joy, she would be the tree. “So…” Akane muttered, “Hiiii…”
“H-hi”
The blue-haired girl continued on, carrying the conversation, “So, how did your dad convince my dad to have two girls get ‘married’? I mean, obviously it’s not y’know, actually possible or anything. I know my dad’s kind of a pushover but this is…” Ranma felt like she’d been hit with a flurry of blows all at once. This girl sees her as a girl, she’s interested in her, as a girl, and thinks that her dad set them up, as girls.
Her head was practically spinning at all of it, and got nervous as Akane trailed off. Akane couldn’t help but smile, “Exciting! I know we don’t know each other really well or anything, and I’m not gonna pressure you into us actually being a thing, oh gods I don’t even know if you’re uhm, into girls like that.” Akane’s dark blue hair contrasted intensely with her bright red face, averting her eyes and giving the redhead a little space.
Ranma finally recovered from the staggering verbal mortars, snapping back into this moment at that last line. “Well, I wouldn’t say. I mean, I’m not, I mean I’m not not but I–, I mean you’re…” She was pretty sure her cheeks were boiling at this point, face fully flushed, painted entirely rose. She quietly squeaked something out, barely even audible, even in this silent room. “...Cute.” As the tension and stress of uncorking that word from her psyche was unleashed, she couldn’t hold everything else back. Letting out a small, high pitched sound. *Mrrow* Ranma clasped her hands over her mouth.
I can’t believe I’m going to die of embarrassment. I’m going to actually melt right here. STUPID FUZZBALL. found one girl that actually likes me and you’re GONNA RUIN IT. “I-I’m so sorry! I- there’s this thing- the c-ca-c-… F-feline fist.” Akane’s brow raised and lowered, furrowing with questions as this girl could not say the word ‘cat’. “I- I- I feline- I’m not a-. That’s stupid. I’m- this thingy- I have- it’s like a condition. it makes me do stupid stuff, please ignore it.” Ranma couldn’t bear to look anywhere near Akane’s direction, body having not moved, but head completely turned to the left.
Akane placed a hand on her wrist, Ranma grimaced in anticipation, bracing herself for the worst. “That’s… So…” Her eyes shut tight. Here it comes… It was a nice 30 seconds while it lasted… “CUUUUUTE!” Akane belted out, squeezing Ranma in a tight hug for a moment before letting go. Knocking just about all the wind out of her. Ranma looked over, and saw her eyes shimmering, full of light. “Does it make you do other stuff too!? Sorry, is that rude? That’s just so awesome!”
Wat.
She was NOT supposed to take this well. Why is she not bothered by it?! And why does she LIKE it!??? Everywhere I’ve gone my feline-side has always chased people away, made me into the resident freak. As if the gender stuff and a Jusenkyo curse wasn’t already enough. But she isn’t scared by that part, at least not yet.
Before Ranma even knew why, Akane’s face warped into a ball of anxiety, “Oh no no no! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” The redhead put a hand to the corner of her eye, it was wet. She didn’t even realize it was happening. She let out a sniffle, “No it’s okay! It’s okay, really! It’s just… No one’s ever really liked the stuff the c-… F-feline fist did to me before. It always weirds people out.”
The older of the two’s eyebrows shot up, “What!? But you sound so cute! I MEAN- it sounds so cute! From you. And… Your mouth.” Akane mentally facepalmed the moment her words parted her lips. Lots of internal screaming. To her shock, Ranma’s face went flush again, and she started absentmindedly fiddling with her pigtail, which seemed to be long enough to go down to her lower back. Running her hands down it repeatedly. “You really think so?”
”I know so! A cute girl and a cute kitty? What’s not to like?!” She gasped as her own train of thought interrupted her words, giving no time for Ranma to recover from the devastating pure ray of lesbianism and gender euphoria of being called a cute girl by a cute girl. “Does that mean you’d liiiiiiike this?” Akane’s hand went under the flustered girl’s chin, scratching lightly. What she did not expect was for the girl to start vibrating with a purr as she continued. Ranma wasn’t sure how much blood was left for the rest of her body that wasn’t in her face.
Akane’s eyes widened, as if she had just been handed the winning lottery numbers, she tried to keep her voice down, not wanting someone to interrupt the moment, letting out a squeaky whisper, “Cuuuuuuuuute!” The pigtailed girl let out a series of half-hearted attempts at protest, before all of her energy was focused on trying to hold onto her thoughts, and really trying not to rub her face against Akane’s hand.
AaaaaaaaaAAAHHH this Tendo girl is gonna be the death of me! I feel so bad, because she’s calling me a girl, and doing all this stuff and finding it cute because she thinks I’m a normal girl with a condition. But she doesn’t know about the curse, about my real form… I wanna be honest, I wanna tell her up front, I don’t wanna break my first friend’s trust, but gods I need this. I just wanna feel normal, even if it has to come crashing down later I just need this just for a little bit.
In between extremely happy purring and looking up at the girl with sad eyes, she was barely able to utter “I-….I’m srrrosrrorryyy”
”Awww don’t be sorry! I love it! I’m not making you uncomfortable am I? Is it okay if I keep going?”
Ranma gave an emphatic, but short nod, and in doing so, letting her emotions decide for just a moment, letting her head move down, nuzzled into Akane’s hand, not able to stop it. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT “s…r..srorryr”
”Stop apologizing! If you don’t cut it out then no more scritches for you missy!” Akane huffed playfully. Ranma did not say anything in response, barely able to turn her thoughts into words, so she nodded again.
Akane smirked, “Good kitty” her words were coy, yet lighthearted, she had thought she was just messing around, just pulling the girl’s chain. Until she felt ki. Pure, absolute ki, begin to shape around Ranma. It coalesced into 2 points, her head, and the base of her back. As quickly as it appeared, it took shape, it was translucent, almost ghostly. But absolutely undeniably unmistakable. Ranma had a cat tail, and cat ears. THIS GIRL JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. Akane, absolutely gobsmacked, proceeded to suck all the air in the room in with her gasp. She immediately poked the one of the redhead’s spectral ears, watching as it twitched, and she wriggled slightly. “W o a h. Does that mean…” Akane began scratching behind the girl’s spirit ears, and watched her melt into her hold, purring enough she could feel it all the way up to her shoulder.
I’ve never- no one’s ever- thinking- hard- kitty take over, can’t shift! Shift bad!
”s t…sttsopp….. pleabseee” Was all she could muster, barely able to hold her lucidity above water, her words broken up by purrs that could be tracked on the richter scale. Akane’s face decided to match Ranma’s, as she yanked her hand back, “O-oh gods i’m so sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t mean to go too far or anything.” Ranma shook her head back and forth, her pigtail flapping about, and her tail slightly following. Her eyes had closed at some point during the purring, and upon opening them, Akane saw Ranma’s eyes staring back at her. Slitted eyes. Kitty eyes!
The redhead struggled to speak, the cat had taken up so much of her mind, the purring quieting down, but still there, mixing in with her shaky attempts at deep breaths, “Like… hamd… No… Chanchge… Loose… Ctronrol” Akane nodded, her brow furrowed in attempting to understand her catgirl friend. Cat girlfriend!?? Possibly! but that’s getting ahead of things. Her furrowed brow joined a smile with it, the slurred noises that were technically language seemed incredibly endearing to Akane. And she at least understood the gist. “You need a sec?” Ranma nodded, and opened her mouth to affirm. *Mrrow* Akane chuckled softly, her smile getting so wide. For Ranma, it was like she was a reptile, and that smile is a heat lamp. It radiated sheer comfort and warmth, and she never wanted to leave its presence.
I will beat the shit out of anyone and everyone, including myself, to protect that smile. A bit of time passed, Akane ended up sitting around reading a book to kill time. Although really that was more of an excuse to pretend to be looking at the pages, but be looking slightly above them at the girl sitting across from her.
Slowly but surely, the ki faded away, the purring subsided, her eyes returned to normal, and with a sigh of mostly relief, Ranma looked back at Akane, the noise being enough for her to turn her book downwards to properly look back. Her mouth now muffled slightly by the book, as well as hiding her slight flush, “Gonna miss those ears.”
“Uhm… Akane, right?” The blue-haired girl nodded with a small smile, lowering the still open book face down into her lap. “I…” She sighed again, this time no relief, just trepidation. “You might see some… Things. Later. About me… I promise I’m a girl. Please believe me, no matter what you might see, I-... I really ain’t lyin’ to you. I don’t expect you to understand.” The pigtailed girl put her knees to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs, looking downcast at the ground.
Almost nobody has, and even less know about it. “I just don’t want you to think any less of me… Just cause I ain’t a… real one…”
“Ranma…?” She paused for a moment, making sure she got the name right. Ranma nodded softly. “I don’t really know what you’re trying to say. I don’t really understand. Of course you’re a girl, silly. You’re as real of a girl as me, Nabiki, or anyone else I know. Hey, if you don’t wanna talk about it, we don’t have to. But I believe you, and whatever I see, I’ll still believe you, okay?”
Ranma muttered something.
“Hmm?”
This time she spoke a little louder, her voice a desperate, questioning whimper more than it was speech. “Promise?”
Akane’s face softened entirely, and a small, but definitely present smile wrapped up her lips. “Promise.”
The second time Ranma cried, she immediately dove into Akane with a hug. “Oof! Eeeeasy there big kitty! It’s gonna be okay.” She squeezed back in a hug, rubbing her hands along the other girl’s back. The now familiar sound of soft purring filled Akane’s ears, slowly drowning out the sniffling, and she couldn’t be happier to hear it.