Chapter Text
"It's called Cleave Ceylon," Ukyo said as she shoved a cup of tea into Ranma's hands. He and Akane had come to Ucchan's for dinner. Ukyo had invited them to eat for free, claiming she had a present for Ranma.
"Um. Okay. Thanks," Ranma looked at the tea cautiously. While Ukyo had never tried to poison him or shove a love pill down his throat, he couldn't pretend that she was never under handed. Akane eyed the cup warily.
"Okay. So it's called 'cleave ceylon'. But you haven't told us what it does," Akane gestured for Ranma to put the tea down. Realizing she was right, that they needed more information first, he set the tea down on the table.
"It's a present for my Ran-chan," Ukyo said in a sing-song voice. "It says it can separate anything - it will get rid of your girl side! You'll be a man again!"
Ranma snatched up the tea, but Akane stuck her hand out to prevent him from drinking it. She rolled her eyes at him, amazed that he was so ready to do something so stupid without knowing what the risks were. Well, she figured she shouldn't be amazed. Acting reckless was practically carved into Ranma's DNA.
"How does it work?" Akane asked. Ukyo shrugged. "You don't know how it works and you want him to just drink it?! Have you ever seen someone else use this?"
"No," Ukyo admitted, "But it's just tea. It will either work or ...you know, worst comes to worst and it's just tea. So maybe a little stomach upset or something. You know I would never put him in danger. I'm not Shampoo."
"Still, maybe we should test this on something?" Akane suggested.
"You worry too much, tomboy," Ranma snorted at her dismissively. "It's just tea. Ucchan's right, it will either work or it won't."
"Well, far be it for me to stop you," Akane shook her head, trying to get rid of the bad feeling at the pit of her stomach. She had more questions, but she knew that Ukyo and Ranma would both just make excuses. And if he wanted to get himself into trouble, there was really nothing Akane could do to stop him.
Ranma studied the tea for a moment, then shrugged and knocked it all back in one glug. "Yuck. That was probably the worst tea I've ever had."
"How do you feel?" Akane asked, leaning forward and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine, 'Kane, you don't need to -" Ranma suddenly grabbed his stomach and doubled over.
"Ranma!" Both Akane and Ukyo were immediately at his side, trying to figure out what was wrong.
To Ranma, it felt like he had a knife in his stomach. The stabbing pain grew more and more intense with each passing moment. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to force himself through the pain. Just when the pain became almost too much to bear, it suddenly stopped. He sat back up, confused.
"So it didn't do nothing," He announced, "Except cause a little stomachache."
"'Little'?" Akane repeated. "You were sweating! You looked like you were going to die!"
"He's fine," Ukyo insisted, though she still also looked worried. She wrung her hands, feeling guilty. She had never intended to cause Ranma pain. Her plan had been that the tea would work, and he would be so grateful he would immediately break off his engagement to all the other fiancées and declare that he only wanted Ukyo.
It, perhaps, was not a very realistic plan.
"I'm fine. All better now," Ranma stood up and motioned for Akane to follow him. "It was a nice try, Ucchan, but guess it just didn't work. We should be getting home now." He made his way towards the door, but stopped when he realized that Akane wasn't following him. "C'mon," He tapped his foot impatiently, "It's time to go home. I still need to get a work out in and a bath before bed."
Akane had been zoning out. She wasn't sure why, but she had a bad feeling right now. Ranma marched back up to her and snapped his fingers in her face. Irritated, she pushed his hand away. "Fine, I'm going, I'm going. Ukyo, thanks for dinner. We'll see you later."
Ukyo nodded and waved the pair off. When they both exited, she sighed and pulled back out the container the tea had come in. She studied the container carefully, trying to figure out what she did wrong. But she had brewed it exactly as the canister instructed. "I guess it's just a load of garbage," she finally decided, tossing it into the trash.
The rest of the night was uneventful. Ranma went to work sparring with his father while Akane set to work smashing cinder blocks, trying to get the unease to leave her stomach. No matter how many she broke, the feeling remained.
She studied Ranma across the way in the dojo. His movements seemed as sharp as ever, he obviously was no longer in pain, and he was quite soundly trouncing his old man (which seemed to be the usual these days. Ranma had passed Genma a while ago, Ranma's father just couldn't bring himself to admit it).
Ranma's eyes met hers for a moment and his smile went a little wider. Akane felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She stood up and brushed off the fragments of cinder block that had gotten on her gi then headed back into the main house. She took a bath and got ready for bed, all with the sense of foreboding still weighing her down.
She got into bed, hoping to sleep it away, but Ranma came barreling through the window. He smirked at her. "Yo!"
She groaned. "What are you doing here? It's late! You should be in your own room."
"You seemed kinda off today. Just. You know. Checkin' on ya. You alright?"
"Honestly?" Akane sat up in her bed and started fiddling with the blanket. "I'm worried about you."
"Why?" Ranma quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'm fine. Hell, I'm doing great. You shouldn't worry about me. I always land on my feet, ya know?"
"That tea-"
"Gave me a stomach ache. Yes, it was a pretty bad one, but still, that's all it did. There's no reason for you to -" Ranma suddenly dropped to the floor.
"Ranma!" Akane tossed her blanket aside and went to him, grabbing him and trying to pull him up. He felt impossibly hot to her touch. It felt like he was also vibrating. She racked her brain for what she could do, when suddenly Ranma looked....wavy to her. It was like his image was in two places at once. The waviness continued a few moments, growing worse and worse until in front of Akane was standing two Ranmas:
His female side and his male side, both in the same room at the same time.
Akane's jaw dropped. "It worked!"
"What worked?" The female Ranma asked, stretching her neck. "I feel weird, 'Kane."
"We don't know for sure it worked," Ranma, male Ranma, pointed out. "We gotta test it. Can you go get some cold water? And some hot?"
Akane nodded and ran out of the room to fetch the waters, leaving both Ranmas behind.
Ranma stared at himself. Herself. Whatever was going on here was weirding him out. He had thought the tea would remove the female side entirely, not make it so that she was a whole being capable of staring back at him.
Akane returned with the water. "Okay, the kettle has the hot water, and this cup is the cold water."
"Okay. Splash me with the cold," male Ranma directed. Akane did as he asked. He flinched when the water hit him, then opened just one eye to look down. Then he opened the other eye - he was still a guy!
"So you probably should splash me with the hot water," female Ranma suggested. "See if I turn back into a guy."
Akane did as she was asked once more, but the female Ranma remained female.
"This is going to be confusing. And where are we supposed to put her!" Akane pointed out.
"Well, for one thing just call me Ranko like we did in front of ma," female Ranma, Ranko, suggested. "That will get rid of one headache. And as for where I stay...obviously I can just stay in your room if I'm female, right?" She sat down on the bed as though she had already gotten permission.
"Akane, I'm a full guy again!" Ranma was gleeful at the idea, practically bouncing around the room. "I never have to be a girl again!"
"Ouch," Ranko interjected, "Was it really so bad being me? I mean, we got a lot of free stuff, especially food."
"We need to focus," Akane demanded. Both Ranma and Ranko sat up straight, focusing on her. "It's great you're a guy, Ranma, I'm happy for you. But Ranko was a part of you. Don't you think it may be a problem for you two to be separated like this?"
Ranma rolled his eyes. "It's fine. I'm sure ma always wanted a daughter, now she gets a manly son and a daughter she can dress up. Everybody wins."
"He's right," Ranko insisted. "This will all be fine, Akane," She grabbed Akane's hand, rubbing her thumb along Akane's palm. "It's so like you to worry about us like that. You're so nice."
Ranma paused his celebration to stare at Ranko for a moment. He looked back and forth between Akane and Ranko, his eyes darkening. "Y'know, I don't think ya should stay in 'Kane's room. It would probably be better if you stayed in my room...sis."
Ranko laughed. "Oh, that's so kind of you, but I'm sure Akane doesn't mind."
"She's right," Akane admitted, "I don't mind sharing the bed. Ranko's all girl, so it doesn't mean anything, right?"
"Exactly!" Ranko said, bumping her shoulder into Akane's playfully.
"Sure. It don't mean nothing," Ranma said to himself, though he glared at Ranko the moment he thought Akane wasn't paying attention.
"You should get some sleep. We have a whole mess to sort out tomorrow," Akane put her hand on Ranma's shoulder. In spite of himself, in spite of the fact that he and Akane had absolutely touched like this before, Ranma felt his heart speed up. It wasn't the usual bump-bump Akane usually gave him. He liked the touch, but was concerned to find he was also absolutely terrified of it.
Ranma wasn't sure when he had felt such fear before. He wasn't afraid as though he were going to die, just ...a more extreme version than the nervousness he usually felt when he was trying to bring himself to be romantic with Akane. There was that longing feeling, that wish that he could do something. But instead of just being a little worried she might reject him, he was suddenly filled with a certainty that she would turn him away.
"I. Uh. I gotta go. G'night, Akane. ...Ranko," He added as an afterthought. Ranko lifted her hand and gave a slight wiggle of her fingers in a goodnight wave, but Ranma hated the face she was making. Ranko looked like the cat who got the cream, and he couldn't help but notice that while Ranko had waved goodnight to him, her eyes were completely focused on Akane.
Akane felt the pressure of something on her chest - with her eyes still closed, she moved her arms to wrap around what was on her, assuming it was P-Chan. Her eyes fluttered open when she realized that whatever was on her chest was much too big to be her pet pig.
Ranko was still asleep, but her face was on Akane's chest, one arm flung over Akane protectively. Akane felt the blush creep into her cheeks, then tried to chide herself. They were both girls. This was perfectly innocent.
Ranko let out a sigh of contentment, then nuzzled into Akane's chest more. Akane hoped the other girl wouldn't hear how fast her heart was beating right now. Ranko slowly opened her eyes, but made no attempts to move away from Akane.
"Good morning," she said, giving Akane one of the cocky smiles Akane was used to getting from Ranma.
"Uh. Yes. Good morning. We should probably go down for breakfast so we can explain everything to everyone."
"Five more minutes?" Ranko asked, pouting at Akane, her eyes sparkling and wide. Akane giggled.
"Sorry. We really do need to get up."
Ranko frowned, but she sat up and moved her arm off of Akane.
"I need to change." Akane said, her face once more going red. Ranko stared at her blankly. "Look, I know you're a girl, but you're also technically Ranma and I ...y'know."
Ranko nodded. "I got ya. You think the part of him that's me would want to look at you."
Akane winced, waiting for a usual Ranma insult - something along the lines of calling her a barrel, or telling her no one would ever want to sneak a peek at her.
Ranko looked off, considering. "I mean, it makes sense, who wouldn't want to look at you? But yeah, I'll leave the room." Ranko exited the room and closed the door behind her, leaving a frazzled Akane behind.
"I. Whu...what?" Akane could feel the heat emanating from her face at this point. Had Ranko been...flirting with her? Akane changed into a sun dress for the day, trying (and failing) not to think about what Ranko had said.
Ranko met her in the hallway and they both walked to breakfast together. Akane was surprised to find that her family and Ranma's didn't look the least bit surprised to see Ranko there. "Oh! Right. You probably haven't seen Ranma today. So-"
"Relax, sis," Nabiki interrupted. "Ranma already went over it with us. Female side gone, but now has her own body. We're calling her Ranko. We're all up to speed. What I wanna know is why Ranma practically ran outside the minute we could hear you both coming down the hall?"
"He did?" Akane cocked her head to the side, curious. "I'll go see what's up with him."
"He's fine," Ranko insisted. "You need to eat, Akane. Ranma can wait, he doesn't need somebody looking after him." Kasumi served a portion of rice to Ranko and then one to Akane.
Kasumi gave Akane a kind smile. "The food will keep if you really need to go talk to Ranma."
Akane gave a grateful nod and then headed outside after her fiancé.
"Did ya really have to tell her that?" Ranko asked, pouting. "She needs ta eat, and Ranma will be just fine without her."
Nabiki smirked at Ranko. "Yes, and you'll be just fine without her, too."
Ranko stuck her tongue out at Nabiki, then got up to follow. But Nodoka put a hand on her shoulder. "Dear, we shouldn't interfere with them."
"Yeah, ma," Ranko forced a smile. "I guess you're right."
Akane had made her way inside the dojo quietly enough that Ranma hadn't noticed her. He turned during his kata, trying to flow into the next step...only to fall flat on his face when he saw Akane.
"Are you okay?" She flew to his side, but while he allowed her to grab onto his arm, he looked away from her. "Ranma, look at me."
"No."
"No?" Akane repeated. "And why not?!"
"I..." Ranma was not about to admit that for some reason, some part of him was suddenly terrified whenever Akane came near. "I just. I just don't need ya fussing over me, okay?! I'm fine! I'll be even better if ya leave me alone and let me do my work out."
Akane clenched her fist, but resisted the rather strong urge to knock some sense into him. "I can't worry about you?" She finally asked, softly.
"I mean, you can but ....I mean..." Ranma groaned. "Something ain't right, 'Kane. And it has to do with you."
"With me?!" Akane stomped her foot. "I haven't done anything to you!"
"I'm not sayin' ya have!" Ranma insisted. "I just...I can't be around you right now. I can't explain it. Just. Please, leave. Okay?"
"Fine," Akane paused when she reached the dojo entrance. "If you can't be around me, I should probably just break off the engagement, then, huh?"
Ranma felt like his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. There it was again. He was terrified of her. Of losing her. Of being near her. Of how he felt when he was with her. Of how he felt when he wasn't with her. He had felt like this sometimes before, but never to this magnitude.
Ranma Saotome was absolutely terrified of Akane Tendo. And he couldn't figure out why.