Chapter 5 - Caught and Compromised

AN: Ugghhhh.  This was supposed to be one of the shorter chapters - NOT the longest.  At the very least, I can finally say that this chapter's version of Ranma has finally reached the Prologue.  There's still a bunch more to go of 'Unfit To Be A Man' and it's quickly looking like this might be the only fic I've written that reaches the 100k word count.  

Yeesh.

Seems like smut really brings out the prolific writer in me, though I will say that this chapter doesn't have much in the way of sex, because I like slow-burn corruption stories.  Also! This is (so-far), the only chapter that's done entirely in Ranma's POV!

Anyway, as always, let me know what you guys&gals enjoyed about the chapter or what you didn't like and hope you all enjoy!

...On a totally unrelated note, I kind of wish the Foundry had an option like on Fanfiction to categorize a story as a crossover.


Chapter 5 – Caught and Compromised



 “...and just make a few cuts along the meat here-” Mom demonstrated by making four rapid incisions on the longest part of the chicken that appeared only as a silvery blur with how fast she was moving the knife.  “Then cover the pan, set the stove to a low-medium heat and wait fifteen minutes.” She turned to Ranma with a bright smile on her face, “Simple! Right, sweetheart?”

 “Y-Yeah...” replied Ranma with a weak smile.

 This would be the second day that Ranma was living in a seppuku contract-free world and the second day that his Mom was teaching him how to cook...with one big difference compared to yesterday.

 “Oh! Your apron came undone, dear.  Here, let Mama get that for you...” offered Mom sweetly, going behind his back and expertly retying the knot to the pink apron he was wearing.

 Ranma was currently in his guy form, wearing a girly apron and doing a supposedly girly activity that was being overseen by his mother.  He pinched his cheek for the umpteenth time and the pain reminded him once again that this was very clearly somehow not a dream.  

 “All fixed!” declared Mom, kissing him lovingly on the cheek before gently guiding him over to the grilling fish and continuing the lecture.  “Now, for the fish, a bit of lemon juice can...”

 Even though he was on edge, Ranma found himself relaxing a bit more as his mother patiently taught him the finer aspects of cooking.  It was something Ranma thought he was decent at (and definitely better at than a certain tomboy), but this kind of pleasant interaction with Mom was rare.  Besides, even if it didn't have much to do with the Art, Ranma could appreciate skill when he saw it and his mom was definitely a culinary expert.

 “Turn it now?” double-checked Ranma with his mother, after glancing at the clock.

 “Yes! And then take it off the heat.” coached Mom, hugging him delightedly when the fish was revealed to have been finely grilled and releasing an appetizing aroma when pressed down upon with a fork.  “You did wonderful, Ranma!”
 
 A smile tugged at his lips and a small red hue appeared on his cheeks as Ranma awkwardly deflected the praise, “Ah...thanks, Mom.  You're a good teacher.”

 While he was embarrassed by the increased affection his mom had been showering him with, a childish part of Ranma craved it.  

 She kissed his cheek again, “You're a better student.” Mom squeezed him once more, before releasing him, “Now! Why don't you go ahead and call everyone for dinner, sweetie? I'll go ahead and set the table.”

 With that said, Mom opened up the cabinets and started pulling out dishes while humming a small tune under her breath.  Ranma couldn't help but smile a little at seeing her cheerfulness; Mom had been feeling kind of stressed with Ranma's affliction and her husband flat-out abandoning them both.  

 “Got it.” acquiesced Ranma and promptly set about collecting each of the Tendo sisters.

 “Oh!” Kasumi flinched back before she and Ranma almost hit each other as he came out of the kitchen.  She smiled kindly at him and looked over his shoulder into the kitchen, “I was going to see if you two needed help...?”

 Her eyes trailed downwards and a slightly mischievous glint appeared on her face, “I'm also happy to see how good you look in my apron, Ranma.”

 Ranma flushed and started to hurriedly untie the stupid thing he had forgotten he was wearing as Kasumi giggled away.  The eldest Tendo sister had been looking happier and more relaxed than Ranma could ever remember and had taken to going out of the house more often too.  Her outfits had similarly reflected this change in outlook and the typical ankle-length dresses had been replaced with airy blouses and skirts that stopped a little above the knee.  Gone was the older girl's ponytail, which had been undone and allowed the brushed and shiny-looking locks of dark-brown hair to freely cascade down.  

 Kasumi mirthfully held out her hands towards Ranma who shamefully deposited the apron into it.

 “A-Anyway, dinner's ready, Kasumi.  Mom's gonna set the table and told me to call everyone...so yeah...” explained Ranma hurriedly, trying to gloss over his mistake.

 “The other two should be upstairs in their rooms.” offered Kasumi helpfully, while brushing past Ranma and ducking into the kitchen, “Oh, Auntie, this looks wonderful!  Please, let me help you with the table setting...” 

 The gentle, but firm demurring Ranma heard from his mother about not needing help and the passive-aggressive insistence from Kasumi as a rebuttal had Ranma chuckling nervously as he walked away.  

 “Ain't gettin' in the middle of that.” muttered Ranma to himself, who made his way upstairs and stopped in front Nabiki's room feeling the same nervousness as he always did with the older girl.

 The predatory grin that spread across Nabiki's face when she opened the door didn't exactly help Ranma's nerves.
 
 “Well, hello Ranma.  Need something?” she purred.

 The clear evaluating gaze she ran over his body made Ranma shiver, but he powered on like a manly man.  “Yeah.  Dinner's ready.”

 And then he fled walked away like a MAN.

 SPLOOSH!
 
 “Come on!” Ranma angrily spun around and glared at the snickering Nabiki holding a now empty glass of water in her hands.  “What did'ya do that for, Nabiki?!” demanded Ranma.

 “Why, Ranma-chan! I thought I was doing you a favour!” proclaimed Nabiki with a wounded voice.

 “Pretty sure that this-” Ranma gestured to her dripping wet person, “-is the exact opposite of a favour.” 

 Nabiki chuckled, “Silly me for being so clumsy, then.  I have a towel inside to dry yourself off and I even got this-” Ranma spluttered when Nabiki pulled out a compact mirror – Ranma's compact, that she had bought and supposedly hidden – from her pocket, “-if you want to fix up your hair.”

 Ranma's eyes flickered down the hallway to Akane's still closed room and then back to a smugly grinning Nabiki who was dangling Ranma's compact in a taunting fashion.  She wasn't fast enough to snatch her mirror back and even if she was, no doubt Nabiki had a bunch of backup blackmail in place already.  Ranma's heart pounded loudly in her ears and she took a step closer to Nabiki, dropping her voice to a whisper.
 
 “...What do you want, Nabiki?” Ranma flinched when Nabiki pulled out the lip balm and hair brush and beckoned Ranma into her room.

 “Oh, nothing too much.” chirped Nabiki with a winning smile, “I just thought that since you went to all the trouble of buying such nice things, that you would appreciate the opportunity to getting all prettied up!”

 As soon as Ranma stepped past Nabiki, she was already trying to leave it once she saw what lay within.

 “Nope!” 

 The physical contest between a Moxibustion-impaired Ranma versus Nabiki Tendo, con-artist extraordinaire had an unsurprising result:

 Thud.

 Nabiki wins.

 “And where do you think you're going, Missy?” chided Nabiki, easily holding Ranma in place.

 “Nope! Nuh-uh! No way!” 

 The reason for Ranma's frantic denials and continued escape attempts could be found laying neatly on Nabiki's bed.  It was a horrifyingly slutty two-piece outfit that was nearly pink all over with a matching set of pink shoes, pink socks and pink lingerie that might as well have been strings.

 “Oh come on, Ranma-chan.  After finding such interesting things secreted away in your room, I thought you'd be all for playing a bit of...” Nabiki leaned closer and finished the sentence with a whisper into her ear: “...dress-up.”

 Ranma shuddered and hoarsely replied, “Not with...that.”

 “Oh?” Nabiki stretched out the word and looked very much like a cat who caught the canary, “Meaning you would be fine with something else to dress up in?”

 Ranma's wince and silence was damning enough on their own, but her ceased attempts to escape Nabiki's grip pretty much sealed the deal.

 “...Nuthin' too girly.” groused Ranma, trying to compromise with the crafty girl.  

 She'd been through this song-and-dance enough times before and wasn't terribly surprised when Nabiki gently lifted the dress off the bed to reveal a much more palatable outfit below.  A white tanktop with a cartoon heart emblazoned on the front and pair of denim hot-pants in grey.  Admittedly, the blue satin lingerie decorated with little ribbons brought a frown to her face once they too were revealed, but they weren't nearly as bad as their skimpy pink predecessors.

 “Huh.” commented Nabiki, analyzing her face with a slightly intrigued look, “And here I thought you'd be complaining more.”

 Refusing to dignify that with an answer, Ranma instead opted to remind Nabiki about her original reason for coming, “...Whatever.  Dinner's ready.  I'm gonna go get Akane and then after-”

 “Before we eat, you mean!” corrected Nabiki cheerily, gently waving Ranma's cosmetic items in front of her eyes as an unsubtle reminder.

~Unfit~

 “New clothes? They look cute on you.” 

 Those were the first words Akane greeted her with when she had finally been released from Nabiki's tender mercies.  The small smile she had on her face was a little teasing, as Ranma had expected, but the sincerity of Akane's compliment was doing funny things to the inside of her chest.  

 “Wha-?! You...? Um...Thank you...?” finally said Ranma after flailing with her words for a bit.  There was a beat of awkward silence, before Ranma belatedly burst out with, “You too! Um, your clothes that is.  They look...uh...y'know...”

 “They look...?” encouraged Akane with a growing smile, leaning forwards slightly as Ranma's face heated up from her proximity.

 She shrank back a bit, looking briefly down the empty hallway before admitting in a small voice: “...looks cute...” Ranma coughed loudly before plowing on, “Anyway! Dinner's ready!”

 Spinning around on her toes, Ranma abruptly ended the conversation and started to head back downstairs.  The closing of a door behind her and soft pattering of bare feet heralded Akane soon falling into step with her.  The...incident between the two of them was still fresh on Ranma's mind, but much to her relief (and uneasiness), it didn't seem to be bothering Akane at all.  However, it seemed that the glances she kept on sneaking at Akane to gauge her mood weren't exactly conspicuous.  

 “I really did mean it when I said that you looked cute, you know?”

 '...Should I be happy that she came to the wrong conclusion or annoyed at the one she came up with?' pondered Ranma briefly, before settling on the former: '...I mean, I do look good in this and even the underwear feels pretty nice against my skin.'  

 “Thanks.  It's a lot better than what Nabiki had in mind originally.”

 Akane snorted, “I bet.” Her eyes looked up and down Ranma's form before continuing, “Still.  She's got a good eye for fashion.”

 “It was pink, Akane.  Pink.” 

 “You've worn pink before.” countered Akane.

 “Not when it was prepped by Nabiki.” Ranma shuddered at the memory of the 'Daddy's Princess' top that Nabiki had initially laid out for her.

 “And the stuff you're wearing now wasn't?” pointed out Akane with a small chuckle.

 “What I'm wearing now is fine-”

 “Normal, you mean.” corrected Akane gently as they walked downstairs, “It's n̸o̴r̸m̴a̴l̶ for a girl to be wearing girl's clothes.”

 “Right...Obviously...” Ranma rubbed the side of her temple for a bit and frowned at Akane briefly, before finishing her thought on Nabiki's particular taste in clothing.  “But what Nabs' had planned out was just-”

 “Yeeesss?” drawled Nabiki, who had apparently been around the corner and had just heard the tail-end of the conversation, “What do you think of my tastes, Ranma-chan? Perhaps I could get you a small mirror so you can better appreciate just how pretty you look right now!”

 “T-That's!” Ranma blanched at the unsubtle reminder of her compact and hastily tried to appease the older girl, “I-I j-just thought that...that your taste in clothing wasn't...wasn't my style!”

 Akane lightly tugged at Ranma's blouse, “And this is?”

 Ranma blushed, but answered with a somewhat nervous glance towards a smirking Nabiki: “...Yeah.  Definitely.”

 Nabiki chuckled, “Nice to know you like my wardrobe.”

 “Not all of it.” muttered Ranma mutinously.

 “What was that?” asked Nabiki sweetly, cupping one hand over her ear and leaning towards her.

 “N-Nothing!”

 Nabiki laughed again as they all took their seat around the set table and waiting for Kasumi and Mom to join them.  “Here's the thing, it's still my wardrobe.” Nabiki emphasized, “Wouldn't it be nice if you bought something cute that you owned? That way you wouldn't have to borrow my clothes.”

 Ranma gaped, “Borrow?” she repeated in disbelief, before scowling, “I never-!”

 “Oh, sweetie! Why didn't you tell me you didn't have any nice clothes?” interrupted her mother who was carrying a tray of water-filled glasses.  She quickly set the glasses down and placed the tray to the side before taking a seat near Ranma and holding her hand.  “If I had known, we could've gone shopping together last week!”

 “I do have clothes, Mom.” protested Ranma.

 'And last week, you weren't this accepting of my female form either.' added Ranma in the safety of her own mind.

 “For your male self, I'm sure.” agreed Mom unquestioningly, “But what about some proper feminine attire?”

 Ranma shrugged self-consciously, patting down her combed hair as an almost reflexive action before replying, “I think what I wear normally is okay...”

 “Again, you're wearing my clothes, Ranma-chan~” pointed out Nabiki with a vulpine grin.

 “I remember seeing a shop with a good selection and prices when we were in Juuban.” contributed Akane thoughtfully and smiled kindly at Ranma, “Doubt you'd see anyone from Nerima there, too.”

 If that little bit of 'help' wasn't enough, Ranma's resistances pretty much crumbled when she saw the tentatively hopeful expression that her mother directed towards her.

~Unfit~

 All things considered, a nice and quiet walk through Juuban arm-in-arm with her mother wasn't the worst way to spend her time after classes on a Wednesday.  The homework that she was assigned was Future Ranma's problem and right now, she was mostly trying to squeeze what enjoyment she could get before being turned into a dress-up doll.

 “This place looks so different now...” mused Mom who pointed towards a convenience store, “That used to be a rather nice little bakery owned by a lovely couple...” She looked at Ranma and smiled mischievously, “You would have looked adorable in their waitress uniform.”

 Ranma smirked, “Well, I did get my good looks from you.”

 Her mom chuckled and patted Ranma's hand fondly, “Such a flatterer, you are.  Men love being complimented, so it's a good skill to have.”

 Ranma looked at her mom strangely and said hesitantly, “I suppose...” While it was a weird tangent and one that Ranma definitely did not want to delve into, the mention of the bakery did spark some curiosity in her.  “So when was the last time you were in Juuban?”

 Mom pondered for a few moments and said, “Perhaps...ten years? Goodness, has it really been that long...?”

 “You seem pretty familiar with the area considering you were livin' in Shinjuku before movin' into the Tendo place.” pointed out Ranma.  

 Mom laughed, “I would hope so, considering I grew up here.”    

 “Oh.  I...didn't know.  Sorry, Mom...” apologized Ranma, realizing not for the first time that she didn't really know much about her Mom's past.

 “None of that, dear.” she cut in with a firm, but gentle voice, “You were curious and I was happy to answer.  That's why we're spending some proper time together as mother and daughter.”

 “Orrr, maybe we could spend some mother and son time, instead?” hinted Ranma, trying to divert a shopping trip.

 Mom's eyes twinkled, “Well, I suppose your boy form would look cute in a dress-”

 “Hahaha! But that won't happen as only girls wear dresses!” interrupted Ranma with stilted laughter.

 Mom grinned triumphantly, “Exactly.” The grin on her face softened and she added, “Still, did you want to know anything else about my past?”

 Considering she wasn't getting out of this trip anytime soon and the fact that she was genuinely interested...

 Ranma sighed and smiled at her mom, “Sure.  What was it like growing up in Tokyo?”

 The following conversations ended up being pretty enlightening for Ranma and fairly enjoyable, even if there were some sad parts to the story.  For instance, she learned that both sets of her grandparents had died before Ranma was born when her mom was still just a teenager.  It was a shame as the stories her mom told of her own parents were equal parts heartwarming and hilarious – like a stern father constantly trying to impress a rich girl who was already into him, but never really realizing how much, even after they were married and had a daughter.  Contrary to her beliefs on their relationship, when Ranma asked about how she and the old man met, the once happy memories were now tainted with his father's cowardly escape and the two spent a great deal of time coming up with more and more creative insults for him.

 Seeing her prim and proper mother blush furiously and meekly apologize after being scolded by another woman passing by for her foul language was particularly amusing for Ranma.

 “Ahem.  Yes, well...Ranma, a lady should always remember to watch their language use in public spaces.” lectured Mom with still red cheeks.

 “Excellent advice.” chortled Ranma.  She yelped when her mom pinched her side and pouted at Ranma. 

 “How about we forget all about...that and get some ice cream-”

 “Immediately forgotten.” agreed Ranma instantly as her mouth started to water at the thought of the promised frozen treat.  “Oooh! Can we sit inside and order sundaes?!”
 
 Mom giggled, “Of course we can.  But, not too much, Ranma.  I don't want you to spoil that lovely figure of yours, after all.”

 “Aww...”

 Still, the limitation didn't diminish Ranma's mood and she was looking forward to the sugary delight when they stepped into the ice cream parlour.  What she wasn't expecting was to run into a familiar pigtailed girl happily accepting a triple-scooped Neapolitan cone.  

 “Come on, Naru-chan! Let's find a seat!” she urged towards what was presumably her frizzy-haired friend.  As she turned towards the tables, the girl briefly glanced towards the entering Ranma and her mom before turning back to her friend.

 “Eh?” The girl blinked and then quickly did a double-take at Ranma whose memory was jogged at the distinctive dumpling-styled pigtails, “Ehhhh?! It's the super cool nee-chan!”

 A wide smile spread across the girl's face with that happy declaration and she attempted to dash over towards Ranma.

 With the key word being: 'attempt'.

 “Ahhh! My ice-cream!” wailed the girl as she tripped on her own feet and went crashing towards the ground along with her cone. 

 “Usagi!” yelled her friend. 

 Ranma was already darting forwards and managed to catch the younger teen before she hit the floor.  Lacking as she was in the chi department, Ranma only barely caught the flurry of motion that was her mother in her periphery as she quickly looked over the girl.

 “You okay, kid?” asked Ranma, as the girl cautiously opened her eyes that had closed in preparation for the fall.

 “Eh? The floor isn't usually this soft and warm when I trip...?” Ranma chuckled and heard some onlookers in the shop, including 'Naru-chan' and her mother do the same.

 “Yeah, you're fine.” snorted Ranma, gently lifting the shorter girl back onto her feet, “Up we go.”

 “A-Ah...thank you.” said the girly shyly with pink cheeks and a small smile.

 “You also dropped this too, sweetheart.” piped in Mom, holding out the girl's intact ice cream cone.  Her eyes widened with disbelief and she eagerly accepted it with a beaming grin and loud gratitude.

 “MY ICE-CREAM!” she squealed, “Thank you!”

 Mom gently ruffled the girl's head, “Anytime, dear.  Be more careful next time, okay?”

 “Okay!” promised the girl who turned to Ranma with bright eyes, “I'll save you two a seat, Ranma-nee!”

 “Ah, ya' don't have to...aaand she's gone...” Ranma's weak protest died an early death as the girl – 'Usagi' – walked off further into the shop with her friend who seemed to be asking about Ranma.

 “'Ranma-nee', hmm?” mused Mom with a small titter.

 “Just some kid I met on the weekend with Akane and the rest...” explained Ranma sheepishly.

 Her mom received the 'actual explanation' when they purchased their sundaes and sat at the table with the two girls in the form of Usagi's enthusiastic retelling of Ranma's arcade prowess.  Usagi was a decent storyteller and the friendly, but teasing jibes from her friend Naru whenever she got too outlandish were a good bit of entertainment to go along with her delectable banana-split hot-fudge sundae that Ranma was sharing with her mother.

 Clink!

 Ranma looked down at the now empty bowl that her spoon had clinked against with a sombre realization, “Aw, man...”

 “Yeah, it's always the worst when you realize you ate it all already.” observed Usagi with empathy.  

 Those sage-like words were somewhat ruined by the chocolate and strawberry smears at the corners of her mouth, however.  Naru giggled as Mom reached over the table with a napkin and quickly cleaned Usagi's mouth. 

 “Ah, you have some on your mouth too, sweetie...” 

 The smirk on Ranma's face disappeared when Mom finished up with Usagi and did the same with Ranma, much to the amusement of the other two girls.

 “Thanks, Mom...” 

 She smiled at her, before turning back to the other two: “Well, it was certainly lovely meeting you two young ladies.” The girls smiled and chimed back similar sentiments before Mom continued, “But, I'm afraid we must get going if we want to get our shopping done.”

 “Oooh, shopping?!” exclaimed Usagi.

 “Where are ya', goin' Nodoka-obasan?” asked Naru with a somewhat avaricious gleam in her eyes.  “If it's jewellery you're interested in, I know a great place!”

 “Jewellery? Oh no, dear, we're not...Hm...” Mom gave Ranma a somewhat discomforting scrutiny before shaking her head, “No, I think we'll be fine.”

 'Yes!' cheered Ranma.

 “For today.” amended her mother a moment later.

 'Aw, come on!' The quick wink Mom sent her way wasn't encouraging either.

 “Today we'll be going shopping for Ranma, who had a bit of an...incident with her old wardrobe.” It was easier to tell a believable lie after all, rather than explain the insane, actual truth of ancient magic.  Mom took Ranma's hand in her own and stroked it soothingly, “My poor girl only has the clothes she's wearing and even these were ones that she borrowed from a friend.”

 Usagi and Naru both gasped in abject horror.

 “That's terrible!” exclaimed Naru.  

 Gasping evidently wasn't enough for Usagi as the teen ran around the table and hugged Ranma with a surprising amount of strength.

 “I'm so sorry, Ranma-nee!” said Usagi pityingly, “I was crying for like an entire day when Shingo ruined one of my nicer shirts!”

 Ranma was mildly alarmed to see tears bubbling at the corner of Usagi's eyes as she blubbered, “W-What do y-you need? I...You're so much bigger than me, b-but I can ask my Mom if she can lend her c-clothes or maybe-!”

 Touched by the offer, Ranma smiled warmly at the girl with a gentle shake of her head while returning the hug, “N'aw.  That's real sweet of you ta' offer, Usagi-chan, but me and my Mom will be fine.”

 “Are...you sure? Really?” asked Usagi, pulling back from the hug to look Ranma in the eyes.

 Ranma grinned, brushing away a few stray tears from the girl's eyes “Positive.” 

 She stared intently at Ranma for a few moments before smiling widely, “Okay!” and leaned in to hug Ranma again before going back to her seat.

 Mom, who had been silently watching the exchange between the two of them until this point with a small smile, said to both Usagi and Naru, “Well, if you girls are interested...Would you two like to come along and help me pick out some nice things for Ranma-chan?”

 The widened eyes and delighted, identical smiles that both girls sported caused a foreboding feeling to sprout within Ranma's heart.

~Unfit~

 “Ooh! Ooh! This one! This one!”
 
 “Try this one too, Ranma-nee! See...Look! It's got this super cute lace trim!”

 “We should pick up some more underwear too.  Panties are simple enough, but we should stop by the store we passed by on the way in to pick up some bras for you...”

 Ranma was feeling a tad overwhelmed with how much was going on around her as she was alternately treated like the three's personal doll and also as a mobile clothing rack for how much stuff they kept dropping on her.  It was both a relief and a source of intense shame when the growing pile of clothes and underwear finally crossed that invisible limit of the Moxibustion.  Ranma's arms spasmed as the tolerable load suddenly became equivalent to that of a mountain and she was forced to drop the entire bundle onto the floor.

 “Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie! I should have realized that was much too heavy for you.” said her mother contritely, quickly picking up the dropped items along with her, Usagi and Naru.

 “Don't worry, Ranma-nee! That's why me and Naru are here! We can help hold all the heavy stuff!” assured Usagi along with an emphatically nodding Naru.

 'This.  Sucks.  SO.  MUCH.' grumbled Ranma in her mind, somehow managing to keep a strained smile for the benefit of the two girls.

 “T-Thanks, you two.  Didn't think it would be that – ugh – heavy...” admitted Ranma shamefully, grabbing the last of the scattered clothes – which was a cute dark blue pleated and flared pinafore dress coupled with a floral white blouse.

 “Ah', we probably shouldn't have been puttin' so much in your arms...” confessed Naru, before giggling and adding in a conspiratorial whisper, “It'd be a lot easier if we had a guy around to carry all our stuff.  That's what my Mom and I do with my Dad whenever we go shopping.”

 “Lucky.  Papa and Shingo wised up way too quick when Mama and me tried doing that.” groused Usagi.  

 All this talk about men and their use as baggage carriers was filling Ranma with some...conflicted feelings, to say the least.  Her mom seemed to pick up on her inner turmoil as she knelt down slightly and took the clothes from the girls' hands.  

 “Say, I think we're almost done here.  Why don't you girls pick out a nice top or dress while I get Ranma to change into some of these outfits?”

 “But...that's what we've been doing...?” said Usagi slowly.

 Mom tittered and gently poked Usagi's forehead with her index, “I meant you should pick something for yourselves.”

 “Wait, does this mean...?” asked Naru with burgeoning excitement.

 “I think that for such good girls like yourselves, you both deserve a small reward.”

 Naru and Usagi's eyes widened comically and Ranma had to stifle a snort as they both agreed heartily with a rapid series of nods.  Her mother had no such compunction and giggled before gently shooing them off, “Take your time girls.  Ranma and I will be at the changing rooms.”

 ““Thank you!”” squealed the two girls joyfully before dashing off further into the racks of clothing hand-in-hand with each other.

 “That was nice of ya' and all Mom, but are ya' sure you can pay for...well, all of this?” asked Ranma worriedly, “I got some money on me, but I don't think it'll be enough to cover everything.”

 “No need to worry, dear.  I am quite well-off and can easily pay for your new wardrobe.”

 Ranma blinked, “Uh...This is the first time I'm hearing about this.”

 Mom laughed quietly as she started walking towards the changing rooms and explained, “My mother was from a rather good family, nothing like the Kuno Family mind you, but still quite decent.  My father had run a fairly successful Shotokan school and both he and my mother were smart about saving their money.”

 Mom's face darkened, “Luckily I kept that knowledge safe from that worthless husband of mine.” Ranma flinched at the sheer amount of venom in her tone and was palpably relieved when it softened, “When you two were on that training trip of yours, I only had my work as an accountant to fill up my time and never really used much of what I earned.”

 Finding an empty changing room, Mom set Ranma's potential new clothes down on a bench and smiled tenderly at her, “The only thing I ever wanted to spend my money on was you, Ranma.” 

 Warmth bloomed in Ranma's chest at the display of maternal love and she couldn't help the silly and slightly embarrassed grin spread across her lips.  “...Love ya' too, Mom.” 

 Somehow, in between blinks, her mother had crossed the short space between them and seized Ranma in a tight hug, burying her face into her bosom.  

 “I love you too, Ranma...so much...” whispered Mom earnestly with a voice leaden with both great love and regret, “Things are going to be better for us.  For you.  I promise...!”

 It felt like something was stinging Ranma's eyes as she returned the hug as tightly as she could.  No words passed between them for a few brief moments as they both indulged in the quiet affection between parent and child.  At some point, Mom had started to stroke Ranma's head and rock back and forth on her heels while cradling Ranma in her embrace.  Ranma felt warm and safe in her mother's arms and welcomed the intimacy as a very much needed balm for what had been a fairly stressful period in Ranma's life.

 Still, she knew that they couldn't stay like this forever and Ranma felt a little bit leery of someone walking by on their private moment.  So, since she knew her mother wouldn't disengage first, Ranma reluctantly pulled back from Mom, whose hand came up to Ranma's face and brushed away at the corners of her eyes.  

 Mom cupped Ranma's face, massaging her cheeks with her thumbs and asked, “...Ready to try on some of your new clothes, sweetheart?”

 Ranma chuckled and gave a small roll of her eyes, “Sure.”

 Mom smiled, kissed her forehead before releasing Ranma and finally closing the curtain to the changing room.  For her part, Ranma picked up one of Usagi's choices that looked a bit too small for her at first glance but was admittedly, something Ranma thought would look pretty cute on her.  

 “Ah, good choice!” commented her mother approvingly as Ranma held the dress against her in front of the mirror.  “I do hope that one fits though, I don't remember seeing a larger size on the racks.  Ah, but maybe we can ask one of the employees...”

 And so it went as Ranma quickly disrobed and went through the outfits of her new wardrobe.  A few were rejected for not being as good-looking on her frame, or in her mother's words for two of them: '“Inappropriate for a young lady to be wearing in public.”'.  Some of them were a bit too lacey and girly and ones that Ranma would've otherwise written off had her mother not convinced her to try them on and smugly smile when the final result ended up looking pretty good on her.  
 
 The accompanying compliments by the two girls who had returned at some point helped a little too.

 “Oooh! Nice choice, Naru! Nee-chan looks soooo cute!” praised Usagi, sending a pleased blush and smile across Ranma's face.

 “Do a twirl, Ranma-nee!” pleaded Naru, who had adopted Usagi's preferred form of address for Ranma at some point.

 Seeing no reason to decline, and also kind of wanting to show off, Ranma obliged the younger redhead, much to the girls' delight.  While her mother clapped politely along, she gave Ranma some crucial advice with a wry smile.

 “Don't spin so hard, dear, unless you want to be flashing your panties all the time.”

 “Mom!” protested Ranma with an embarrassed blush and flattening her skirt to her sides reflexively as Usagi and Naru laughed good-naturedly.

 Mom laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she led Ranma back into the changing room, “Only teasing you, sweetie.  Now let's get you back into your old clothes and pay for everything.” Before closing the curtain, she looked back at Usagi and Naru, “Girls? Did you end up picking something out?”

 ““Yup!/Uh-huh!”” they chorused, proudly holding up a pair of matching tops.

 “Looks cute.” observed Ranma, “You two already try them on?”

 “Well, I have, but Usagi hasn't yet.” began Naru, “She picked out a skirt first, but when she saw me wearing this blouse, she liked it a lot better and asked me where I got it from.”

 “I'm the same size as Naru!” chimed in Usagi, before frowning and looking at her friend and her own body hesitantly, “...I think.”  Usagi brightened and then skipped into an unoccupied changing room next to Ranma's, “I'll just check reaaallly quick!”

 Naru sighed and followed her friend with a patient smile, causing Ranma and Mom to chuckle.

 “All right, don't take too long, though.” called out Mom.

 “'Kayyy!” came the answering and somewhat muffled reply from Usagi.

 It only took twenty seconds, at which point Ranma was once again in her underwear, for a certain familiar problem to rear its ugly head in the initial form of something hitting the ground in the next-door changing room.

 Thump!

 “Where am I NOW?!”

 There was a pause as both Ranma and her mom looked incredulously at the wall separating their two rooms.

 “This doesn't look anything like...Oh...H-Hello t-there hahaha...”

 “...Is that...?” began Ranma, only for her words to be drowned out by an ear-piercing shriek from Usagi.

 “KYAAAAAAHHHHHH! PERVERT!!!”

 “Usagi-chan!” cried out his mother, ripping open the curtain at the same time Ranma heard what was certainly Ryoga cry out in shock.

 “WAAHHHH! I'M SO SORRY!”

 “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!” bellowed a clearly incensed Naru.

 Ranma, not wanting to be seen by Ryoga, but also wanting to see the porcine jackass get what was coming to him, poked her head out of the changing room.  Usagi's cry seemed to have been the rallying sort as what appeared to be every single female in the store (sans herself, Usagi and Naru who was comforting her friend) was chasing Ryoga like he was the second coming of Happosai.  Leading the pack with an icy look of terrifying fury (and with a naked blade already in her hand) was her mother.  It was a sight that had cropped up in Ranma's nightmares of when Mom was still all about the seppuku contract; she felt a little sorry for Ryoga, now that she thought about it.

 That being said: Hearing the wet sniffles of Usagi killed much of any pity Ranma had for the 'Lost Boy' along with the departing and familiar oath as he was chased out of the store.

 “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, RANMA! I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE!”

 “Idiot.” muttered Ranma as she walked over to Usagi, still clad in only her underwear and knelt down next to the teary-eyed girl, whose back was being slowly rubbed by Naru.

 “Uuuuu...Naa-aru ch-chan! That...that boy s-s-saw me w-without m-my sh-shirt!” hiccuped Usagi.

 “It'll be okay, Usagi-chan.  That stupid pervert is gone now.” soothed Naru, pulling the blonde girl into a hug.

 Ranma stretched out and closed the curtain to give them all some more privacy, wincing a little when Naru finally looked up towards her with the expected question.

 “Did...you know that boy, Ranma-san?” she asked suspiciously.

 Ranma facepalmed and sighed heavily, “It's...It's a long story...”

~Unfit~

 'Ranma was in his room with Akane and the two had been chatting until a lull in the conversation occurred.  Moonlight streaming in from the window captured Akane's form and highlighted her soft, pretty features in a silvery glow.  The uncute tomboy was nowhere to be seen and in that moment, Ranma felt his breath catch at her beauty.

 She smiled coyly him: “See something you like?”

 Words failed to leave his mouth, even as it opened and closed several times.  

 Akane did not wait for Ranma to make the first move and simply rolled her eyes while leaning over to him and-

 “S̷i̸s̶s̵y̷.̸.̷.̷

 -pressing her soft lips against his own.  Ranma was happy to let her take control of the kiss and simply revelled in the intimate experience.  Her lithe and strong arms curled around Ranma's torso and pulled him closer until he was sitting in her lap.  Ranma's arms naturally fell around Akane's waist as they continued to make out with each other.

 Ranma could feel a small tightness in his underwear and his skin grew warm to the touch as he and Akane explored each other's mouths.  Akane pulled back from Ranma's lips and he tried to follow her, only to be stopped by a finger pressed against his slightly parted mouth.

 “Got something I want to share with you.” whispered Akane breathily and Ranma could see something white coating the inside of her mouth.

 Before he had time to ponder that, Akane sealed her lips against his own again.  Ranma's eyes widened slightly as he felt a hot and slimy liquid seep into his mouth from Akane's.  It had a salty and bitter tang to it and more and more of the stuff seemed to keep on coming, leaving Ranma with no other course of action other than to swallow it.  

 Akane's tongue seemed to grow rougher and bigger in Ranma's mouth, which seemed a bit smaller itself.  No longer was Ranma pressed against a curvy feminine frame, but instead it was Ranma herself whose breasts were squashed against a blubbery torso.  Thick, hairy arms were alternately rubbing Ranma's back and cupping one of her soft and supple ass cheeks, kneading the jiggly flesh and causing Ranma to moan wantonly into her lover's mouth.

 Ranma's eyes fluttered open and met the hungry gaze of Kenta-ojisan, who continued to dominate Ranma's mouth with his thick tongue.  Ranma's head was pulled away by a hand tightly gripping her hair and she mewled pitifully from the passionate kiss being ended.  Kenta-ojisan's hands continued to quest over Ranma's body, never lingering too long on any single area, but always managing to elicit a pleasured gasp or sigh from Ranma's lips.  Ranma tried to move closer to the man, to continue their heady makeout, but was prevented from doing so from the firm grip that the strong man still had on her hair.

 Kenta-ojisan chided her with a smirk, “The kiss is only for the girls, Ranma-chan.”

 Ranma whined, “But I am a-”'

 Ranma woke up in a cold sweat and a quick intake of breath.

 It was a little earlier than when he normally woke up and since the memories of the dream ('No...it was a nightmare...right?') refused to fade, he doubted he'd be getting back to sleep anyway.  Ranma grimaced as he sat up and felt a very clear reminder of his body's reaction to his increasingly common nightly visitor.  He gingerly lifted the waistband of his pants and underwear to reveal a ruined and wet interior laced with semen.

 “Ugh...!” Ranma flopped back onto his futon with a groan, disgusted with himself that he wasn't feeling MORE disgusted about his dream.

 He had heard other guys talking about wet dreams about some girl they were perving on (Usually Akane or one of the other girls Ranma knew pretty well.), but he never thought that the first time that he had a wet dream it wouldn't even be about a girl.

 “Do I seriously think that way about...?” Ranma pressed her hands against her face, “Nope! Not gonna even touch that! Besides...it started out with Akane, didn't it?”

 Dreams didn't make sense.  Everyone knew that.

 But even if Ranma had to look for a reason, it wouldn't be hard, considering he had been doing his very best to try and repress when Kenta-ojisan had jokingly asked if he wanted a goodbye kiss and he had agreed!

 'Hot breath against her face and rough, moistened lips planting a somewhat sloppy kiss on her cheek.  Her hand, continuing to gentle massage the spot where she was kissed and feeling...' 

 Ranma had, at some point, started rubbing his cheek where he had been kissed – or at least, the spot where he had been kissed in his female form.  Those strange and confusing warm and tingly sensations from the memory of Kenta-ojisan's lips and his presence once again reminded Ranma of their presence.  

 “It doesn't...It doesn't mean anything...It doesn't mean anything...It doesn't mean anything...” repeated Ranma to himself.  

 It was better to occupy his mind with something else, rather than continue to wallow on some stupid dream ('And...a very real memory...').  While Ranma normally wasn't the biggest fan of school, he would take whatever distraction he could get right now.  Ranma stretched a bit, before walking over to his drawers as he focused on preparing for the day.

 First things first was changing out of his messy underwear and into a fresh pair of...

 “...The hell?” 

 While the unfamiliar sight of panties and camisoles wasn't surprising to Ranma, the distinct absence of his male underwear was.  Sifting quickly through the soft material of his new wardrobe didn't yield the rougher kind of underwear he was looking for.  Neither did his search through his other drawers and closet give up what Ranma wanted, even though the clothes he wore as a guy (and usually as a girl) were still there.

 A second more careful inspection of the containers within his room proved no more fruitful than the initial search.  Stumped for a few seconds, Ranma decided to go downstairs and check the laundry room and see if there were any fresh pairs of underwear for him.  

 Whirrrrrr...!

 The sound of the laundry machine running was the first thing that Ranma noticed when he came downstairs and made his way over to the laundry room.  Kasumi's back was the first thing that greeted Ranma as she swayed in place while folding a few towels and humming a tune under her breath.  

 “Kasumi...?”

 The older girl badly flinched at the sound of Ranma's voice and whipped around with a startled expression, “R-Ranma?” Her eyes flickered to a covered wastebasket tucked in the corner, before moving back to him.  “Goodness! I...I didn't even hear you come in!”

 “Sorry for scaring you, Kasumi.” apologized Ranma, feeling bad about startling the kind girl.  “I, uh, wanted to see if I had some clean stuff down here.”

 “You're out of fresh clothes? I could have sworn Auntie had bought quite a few new ones for you recently.” pointed out Kasumi with a smile.

 “I-I was hoping for some...guy clothes, actually.” explained Ranma with a small blush.

 Whirrrrrr!

 “I'm pretty sure those are still there, though...” Whatever Kasumi had said was muffled by the laundry machine jumping into a faster and much louder cleaning cycle.

 “What?! What did you say, Kasumi?!” asked Ranma in a much louder voice.

 “E-Eh?! Oh! I...” Kasumi made a gesture for him to leave the laundry room, presumably so they could talk at a more normal volume.

 Kasumi slowly closed the door behind them and the sound of the machinery was dampened significantly.

 “That's better.” said Kasumi with a pleased smile and she turned towards him, “So...what exactly did you need, Ranma-kun?”

 Ranma gave a furtive look over his shoulder to see if Nabiki was anywhere in the vicinity before stepping closer to Kasumi, “Just...Just some clean underwear.  Guy underwear.”

 Kasumi shook her head slowly, “I'm sorry, Ranma-kun... but I don't remember seeing any of your male things down here.” She cocked her head to the side curiously, “Can I ask why you can't use the pair you're already wearing?” 

 '...Crap.'

 “Uh...It's kind of...Well...” Ranma racked his brain looking for an excuse before seizing the first one that sounded the least stupid, “I...I just like having a clean pair for the day...”

 “I see.” The skeptical and partly bemused look Kasumi was giving him wasn't doing wonders for Ranma's calm.

 'Abort.  ABORT!'

 “Y'know, I think I might have just looked in the wrong drawer.  So I'm just gonna goaheadandcheckitnowThanksKasumiBye!” babbled Ranma before he made a rapid tactical retreat back upstairs to the safety of his room.

 “Smooth, Ranma.  Reaaaal smooth.” mocked Ranma to himself in an undertone, before sighing.

 Despite himself, Ranma couldn't help but search once more throughout his room, checking not just the drawers and closet this time, but pretty much anywhere where one could conceivably hide something.  Ranma couldn't say he was terribly surprised when the third and most meticulous search of his room still refused to yield what he wanted.  Ranma glanced over to his open underwear drawer and the colourful and frilly collection that lay within before looking down at his pants.

 Ranma didn't want to go to school with a crusty pair of underwear and he really did not want Kasumi to find said pair in the laundry room, which meant that they had to go.  Besides, he still had underwear and the only thing he had to do for them to be a perfect fit was get some cold water.  He glanced outside and grinned at the cloudy sky for once, as it would give Ranma the perfect excuse why he was switching into his girl form in case Kasumi asked.

 Nodding to himself, Ranma picked out his typical outfit that he wore to school along with a matching pair of white panties and camisole and set to work.

~Unfit~

 “And here I thought I'd never get to hang out with your lovelier self again!” exclaimed Hiroshi as Ranma opted for sitting with the guys for lunch today.

 “It hasn't been that long.” defended Ranma.

 “Yeah, but that was your guy self.” dismissed Hiroshi, before waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively in a playful manner.

 Ranma rolled her eyes, “Dumbass.”

 Hiroshi laughed and eased off on the creepy once-over he was giving her, and unpacked his lunch as Ranma did the same with hers, “Hey, not all of us are surrounded by hotties all day.  You're a very welcome sight to Daisuke's ugly mug.”

 “Speaking of your much smarter friend-” Ranma caught the carrot he threw at her for the jibe in her mouth and winked obnoxiously at him, “Where is he, anyway?”

 “Canteen.” he replied through a mouthful of rice.  Hiroshi swallowed and looked over Ranma's shoulder at something before glancing back at her, “Anyway, I'm kinda glad he's not here as I wanted to ask you something-”

 “I'm sorry, I can't return your feelings, Hiroshi.  I...I just don't feel the same way.” lamented Ranma dramatically, putting a hand to her head and turning away with a  stricken look.  Ranma cracked open one eye and laughed at Hiroshi's put-out expression before dropping the shtick, “All right, all right.  What'dya wanna ask?”

 Hiroshi huffed a bit before settling down and posing his question in a low voice: “How...How well do you know Akiyama?”

 “Ya' talkin' about Yuka?” 

 The girl in question was sitting with Akane and a bunch of other girls at the back of the classroom and as far away as possible from Ranma and Hiroshi within its' confines.  In addition, the storm that had been brewing in the morning had finally rolled around by lunch into a full-blown shower complete with thunder and only heightened the noise-level in the class.  Most of the other kids were carrying on their own conversations in small groups, talking over the other and pretty much ensuring that Ranma's response went completely unheard.

 None of this stopped Hiroshi from freaking out and slapping a hand over Ranma's mouth.

 “Keep it down! Do you WANT her to hear you?!” hissed Hiroshi.

 Were she at her normal level of strength, Ranma would have batted away the offending appendage easily enough.  However, considering that she still wanted to keep the Moxibustion a secret, Ranma did the next best thing to get rid of Hiroshi's hand.

 Chomp!

 “OW!” 

 Hiroshi recoiled and was about to deliver an angry retort before he saw how much attention they had drawn and settled back into his seat with a nervous laugh.  Soon enough, the people who had been looking over at them curiously drifted back into their own conversations and they were once again ignored.  The boy glared at Ranma who gave him an unimpressed look in return.

 “...Did you have to bite down so hard?” whined Hiroshi petulantly.

 “Oh, don't be such a baby.  I didn't even draw blood.” shot back Ranma before rolling her eyes and asking in a whisper this time, “Now why ya' askin' about Yuka?”

 The baleful look he was directing her way faded into a more nervous and embarrassed expression that had Ranma internally groaning.

 “Well...I mean...You've been spending time with her and Akane and the rest and I was wondering...” dithered Hiroshi.

 “...If she's single?” finished Ranma.

 Hiroshi looked hopeful and leaned forwards, “...Is she?”

 Ranma scooped up a mouthful of chicken and chewed it thoughtfully for dramatic effect before replying: “Dunno.”

 Thump!

 Hiroshi's head slammed down on his desk with a groan and said, “You suck.”

 Ranma chuckled, “Sorry, man, but that's not the kind of thing that ever came up when we talked.”

 “Yeah? And what did you talk about?” asked Hiroshi, his face still planted firmly on the desk and muffling his voice.

 '“Do you see her, Ranma-chan? Do you see that gorgeous redhead in the mirror?”' 

 She had gotten used to the lingerie that she was wearing surprisingly quickly, but the memory of that Saturday spent alone with Yuka brought it to the forefront of her mind.  Ranma became much more aware of the silk camisole covering her breasts and tightly adhering to her stomach and matching panties.  Even though she had made sure everything was properly covered, Ranma couldn't help but slightly pull up her pants and tuck her shirt in just a little more, just in case.  

 Ranma was glad Hiroshi couldn't see the blush on her face and she took a few moments to dispel the memory and settle herself back down before replying, “Just...about random stuff...like manga and stuff like that...”

 Hiroshi's mournful face tilted up from his desk, “But you don't know if she has a boyfriend or not?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously at her, “Is she another fiancee?”

 “No, she isn't.” answered Ranma flatly and she was one-hundred percent glad about that, “She's just a friend.  A friend who may or may not be single.”

 “Come on, man! Ya' gotta give me something.  I'll even take a guess!”

 “Fine.  I don't think she's dating anyone.  Happy?”

 “As long as she says 'Yes'.”

 Ranma snorted and asked the marginally more cheerful boy, “So what's with the interest in Yuka, anyway? This been something you've been thinkin' of for a while or...what?”

 “Pretty recently, actually.  She's been looking good.” Ranma had to concede to that point as she herself was guilty of staring at Yuka for a bit too long.  “And...I dunno, it's like, she used to be kind of quiet and in the background, but she's been pretty energetic lately and just standing out more.” Hiroshi sighed and propped up his chin with his hand, “Think I got a shot?”

 “You're asking the wrong girl.” said Ranma with a self-deprecating laugh.

 “Ugh.  I wish I had your kind of luck with the ladies and they came to me.” groaned Hiroshi.

 Ranma scoffed, “Trust me.  Multiple girls is never a good thing.”

 Hiroshi chuckled, “If that were coming from anyone else, I'd call bullshit.  Still, I mean, you and Akane are getting along.” Hiroshi looked a bit concerned when Ranma hesitated and asked again, “...Right?”

 “Things...have been a little...weird...” admitted Ranma, not wanting to get into the full details.

 “Another fight?” incorrectly guessed Hiroshi.

 '“Pathetic.” sneered Akane, staring contemptuously at a mortified Ranma who could feel his cum staining the inside of his underwear.'

 Ranma nonetheless seized the assumption like a lifeline, “Yeah! Another fight.  Between us, that is.”

 Hiroshi patted her shoulder sympathetically, “Sucks to hear, man.  I'm sure you two will make up like usual, though.”

 Somehow, Ranma doubted they'd be making out anytime soon, however.

 “Yeah.” Ranma forced out a smile, “You're probably right.”

~Unfit~

 It was a relief for the trio of Akane, Nabiki and Ranma when the Tendo home finally came in sight.  While the weather had eased up somewhat, it was still raining quite a bit and they all only had a single umbrella to share between them.  

 “Finally!” exclaimed Nabiki as they quickly entered the grounds, “Can't wait to get out of this rain.  Nice thinking with bringing the umbrella, Ranma.”

 “You know how it is with me and water.”

 Akane chuckled and turned to Nabiki as they entered the house with pleased sighs of relief, “Wanna hop in the bath with me, Nabiki?”

 “Sure! My clothes got a little wet, so it'd be great to-” Nabiki cut herself off with a small gasp, one that was echoed in a similar manner by Akane.

 Ranma who was putting the umbrella back on the stand next to an unfamiliar one after taking off her shoes and looked at the two curiously before freezing at sight of the large man standing at the doorway with her Mom.  T̶h̵e̷ ̸t̶w̷o̸ ̸w̶e̵r̵e̴ ̶s̵t̵a̶n̴d̴i̵n̸g̴ ̵p̴r̵e̶t̶t̷y̷ ̵c̴l̷o̷s̸e̸l̴y̶ ̴t̷o̴g̶e̴t̶h̸e̶r̵ ̴a̵n̸d̵ ̷h̶e̴r̵ ̷M̸o̸m̵'̵s̸ ̵f̴a̴c̷e̷ ̴l̵o̶o̵k̴e̷d̴ ̶k̷i̸n̷d̶ ̸o̸f̵ ̶f̸l̸u̷s̵h̴e̷d̵, but before Ranma could think on that some more and why Kenta-ojisan was even here, Akane and Nabiki both quickly made their way over to him with almost simpering expressions.

 “Welcome home, everyone.” greeted Mom warmly.

 “Da-Ojisan! I didn't know you would be coming over today!” remarked Akane delightedly.

 “Did you just get here? Are you staying long, Uncle?” asked Nabiki right after.

 “It's nice to see you girls too.” laughed Kenta-ojisan easily, looking over their heads to meet Ranma's nervous gaze with a wink.  The action sent a blush crawling up Ranma's cheeks and she hastily looked away as he continued, “But to answer your questions, I came over a few hours ago to do an inspection of the building and see what needs to be patched up and reinforced here and in the dojo.  I was actually just heading out when you three came back.”

 Akane, Nabiki and her mother all made vague noises of disappointment and for whatever reason, Ranma herself was feeling a little bit of the same way.

 “Are you sure I can't tempt you to stay for dinner?” offered Mom.

 Kenta-ojisan chuckled and shook his head, “Some other time, Nodoka-chan.  I don't want to wear you and Kasumi-chan out too much.” Mom b̶l̸u̷s̵h̷e̶d̴ and tried to insist once more before Kenta politely declined once again.

 Ranma shied away a bit from the entrance as Kenta walked towards it, lingering at the sides as the other women chatted with him.  Unfortunately for Ranma's confusing feelings, the man chose to address a question to her as he put on his shoes.

 “So, Ranma-chan.  Is what you're wearing Furinkan's version of the gakuran? It looks good on you!”

 Ranma squeaked at the compliment and stuttered out a quiet, “Thank you.”, while studiously repressing the fuzzy warmth that he liked how she looked.

 “Ranma never actually got the school uniform because of...well...a lot of different things.” began Akane as she started listing things off, “Her curse, enrolling in the middle of the semester and probably the biggest one...”

 “““Principal Kuno.””” said Akane, Nabiki and Ranma simultaneously.  The laugh they shared when they all said that had the benefit of helping ease the tension that had built up in Ranma.

 “Yuka has told me some...stories about him.” commented Kenta-ojisan worriedly, “The rest of your teachers are much better, I hope?”

 “Much better.” reassured Nabiki with a sincere smile that Ranma had never seen her direct towards other than her sisters.

 “That's good to hear.” sighed Kenta-ojisan with evident relief.  He smiled and softly patted the heads of Akane and Nabiki, “Well, hopefully I'll see you all soon, but I should get going now.”

 Even though Ranma knew it was coming, it was still a bit of a surprise to see Kenta kiss the cheeks of both Akane and Nabiki in farewell.  The latter especially surprised Ranma, considering she had never seen Nabiki act so familiarly with anyone...unless it was to scam them.

 '...Considering he's gonna be doing some work on the house, it's probably to scam him or cut a deal.' considered Ranma, seeing the blissful look on Nabiki's face in a new and much more understandable light.

 “Now, you girls should run along now and get into the bath.  You'll catch a cold if you stay in those damp clothes of yours!” advised Kenta-ojisan.

 ““Okay! See you soon oji-san!/Take care of yourself on the way back!”” chorused the two sisters, giving the man fleeting hugs before leaving towards the bath.

 “I'd say you should join them, Ranma-chan, but I don't think they would appreciate it.” he mused with a sly grin. 

 Ranma's lips quirked up, “Probably not.”

 Mom looked worriedly at her and shook her head, “Still, I think we should get you a towel and something warm to change into, dear.” She looked at Kenta-ojisan who gave a warm and approving smile that she soon returned after some hesitation, “Thank you...Kenta-san.  For coming over, that is.”

 “...Thank you for having me over, Nodoka-chan.” 

 Something significant seemed to pass between them in those short words that they exchanged, but Ranma didn't have a clue as to what it might have been.  She wasn't given much time to dwell on it as a more pressing concern soon presented itself.  Mom received a kiss on the cheek like the other two girls and then did something completely unexpected by gently tugging Ranma forwards over to Kenta-ojisan.

 “Sweetheart, Kenta-san has to get going now, so b̷e̵ ̵a̶ ̶g̵o̶o̵d̸ ̴g̶i̸r̶l̶ ̶a̵n̴d̵ ̴l̸e̸t̴ ̷h̸i̴m̴ ̴g̷i̴v̵e̵ ̴y̵o̴u̸ ̴a̴ ̵p̷r̷o̵p̸e̸r̸ ̴f̷a̶r̵e̶w̸e̵l̷l̷.̶”

 “I...But I'm a...”

 “Girl, right now.” pointed out her mother, “It's simply the polite thing to do for a girl to receive a simple kiss on the cheek from a man.”

 Kenta threw in his own five yen with a small grin, “You seemed to be okay with it last time, too.” The grin lost it's teasing edge and he then explained, “But, if you don't feel comfortable with it, that's fine too.”

 Ranma's mouth opened to refuse the...offer...when a certain phrase cropped up in her mind.

 '“The kiss is only for the girls, Ranma-chan.”'

 She closed her mouth and looked anxiously at a slightly bemused Kenta-ojisan who opened his arms in a clear invitation for Ranma.  She looked back at her mother who smiled encouragingly and nodded hesitantly back with a soft reply, “...Okay.”

 Feeling some disbelief at what she had just agreed to, Ranma closed her eyes and waited as her heart pounded faster and faster. She heard him step forwards and felt his large, masculine arms wrap around her (though much lighter than in her dreams) with his breath hot on her skin.

 ...Mwah!

 Click! Ker-chack! 

 A pair of large lips pressed wetly against her cheek and stayed there for what was probably only half-a-second, but what felt like so much longer to Ranma, before they pulled away.  She heard a low chuckle as her eyes remained closed and felt him pull away from her.  

 Ranma opened her eyes in a bit of a daze to see a bemused Kenta-ojisan who said, “See? Not so bad!” Seizing his umbrella, he waved at the pair of them, “Anyway, I'll be over sometime next week to get started on repairs, but I'll call the house if anything comes up.”

 “All right, take care on your way back, Kenta-san!”

 “I will.  Have a good night, you two!”

 Clack!

 Kenta-ojisan swung the door closed behind him and Ranma flinched when she felt her Mom's hand on her shoulder.  “Come on, dear.  Let's get you into something warmer...How about those nice yellow pyjamas Naru-chan picked out? Or maybe...”

 It was clear, even to Ranma's slightly addled mind, that her mother thought nothing of the interaction between her and Kenta and saw it as perfectly normal.  To be fair, Kenta-ojisan probably thought the same as well and it was only Ranma who was making such a big deal out of it.  Even though Ranma could still feel his lips on her cheek as her mother took her up to her room to change, she understood the kiss meant nothing.  

 Like Mom had said, she was currently a girl and it was the polite thing to do.  It was a gesture that didn't actually mean anything.

 It shouldn't have meant anything...

 'And yet...' 

 ...If that were true, why did she feel disappointed?

~Unfit~

 The following morning was blessedly free of Ranma waking up from any sordid dreams, though she chocked that up to just passing out after tossing and turning for most of the night, unable to properly fall asleep.  Still, the day would hopefully prove to be a good one as the weekend was just around the corner and the school was still Kuno-free.   It was after school and Yuka had pulled Ranma aside to give her usual homemade sports drink while Akane and Sayuri chatted off to the side, waiting for Asami and Hiroko.  

 Though, when the subject of being invited over to another hang-out at Yuka's place, Ranma had to regretfully decline on account of who else would be there.  Before she could cobble together a partway acceptable reason to give to Yuka as to why she was declining the invitation, salvation came for Ranma via a determined-looking Hiroshi.   

 “Um...A-Akiyama-san?” greeted Hiroshi nervously, drawing Yuka's attention mercifully away from Ranma.

 “Yes? Um...Sato-san, was it?” Yuka looked at Ranma and back to him, smiling a little, “You're one of Ranma-chan's friends, yes?”

 Hiroshi brightened up visibly with the fact that Yuka had remembered his surname.  

 “Yes! That's me! Good friend of Ranma...chan?” Hiroshi gave an odd look at Ranma who returned with a meaningful one back to him and silently gestured to Yuka.  

 Hiroshi coughed, “Yes...Well, anyway...I wanted to uh...ask you something Akiyama-san?”

 “What is it?”

 “Would...Would you...Do you want to g-go o-out sometime?” confessed Hiroshi, surprising Ranma who didn't think he wouldn't be able to go through with it. 

 Reality was cruel however and Hiroshi's bravery would sadly go unrewarded.

 “I'm sorry, Sato-san.  But I'm not interested in dating anyone.” said Yuka gently.

 “...O-Oh, I see...Sorry for...Well...Uh...Have a good weekend, Akiyama-san...” replied Hiroshi crestfallen, walking away with slumped shoulders.

 As Yuka turned back towards Ranma, she suddenly blurted out, “I should go after him.  C-Cheer him up, y'know?”

 Fleeing before she could reply or worse, bring up another invite to her place, Ranma caught up to Hiroshi and dragged the guy away from the school.  Despite her successful escape, Ranma was treated to the rather unwelcome experience of a mopey Hiroshi.  The person in question turned out to be rather clingy when sulking and Ranma had to repeatedly dodge his attempts for more physical comfort until he settled down.

 'Really glad that whatever is up with my girl form doesn't act up around other guys.' thought Ranma on the walk back home with a shiver.  Unlike with Kenta-ojisan, acting like a good girl for Hiroshi, or any other guy for that matter, only creeped Ranma out.

 “It's always just one thing after another...” muttered Ranma, unscrewing the top of Yuka's thermos and taking a sip of the drink.  She hummed appreciatively at the inoffensive taste and took a few more gulps.

 If she ever wanted to hang out with Yuka, and she kind of did, Ranma would have to make sure that she was in guy form to stop things from feeling so...weird between her and Kenta-ojisan.  Sure, it might have been normal while she was in girl form and it was just a simple kiss on the cheek, but Ranma didn't want any weird rumors to start popping up.

 'Because, dammit! I still like girls!'

 'A pair of fat hairy arms curling around her waist and drawing her in close as her heart pounded with something close to excitement...'

 '...I really need to get some hot water.'

 “I'm home...” called out Ranma as she entered the Tendo household, kicking off her shoes and padding into the kitchen to find Kasumi washing some pans.

 The girl looked over her shoulder and smiled, “Welcome back, Ranma-kun.”

 “Hey, Kas'.  You know if anyone is in the bath?”

 “It should be free.  Akane-chan is the only one home at the moment as Nabiki-chan and Auntie stepped out.” she replied, switching off the faucet and drying her hands before asking, “Do you mind helping me out with dinner later?” 

 “Sure!” Ranma flashed the girl a thumbs-up who giggled as she left the kitchen.

 Painful experience had taught Ranma to make triply sure that there was no one actually in the bath, so that even when she saw no clothes in the outer room, Ranma still made sure to call out and ask if anyone was still using the bath.  Satisfied when she received no response, Ranma stripped off her clothes, washed herself while drawing up the bath and soon returned to his birth form with a pleased sigh.  Even though he didn't really mind being in his girl form, it was always nice to just spend time in his original...body?

 Ranma frowned at the reflection he saw in the bathwater, tilting his face this way and that while also poking his cheeks that seemed a little rounder than normal.  It wasn't just his cheeks either that seemed different: Ranma's nose looked a little smaller and he definitely remembered his eyebrows being bushier.  Although, now that he was thinking of body hair...

 “The hell?” A quick check of his armpits, thighs and crotch showed that he was completely smooth and hair-free.  As his hand brushed against his dick, Ranma refused to acknowledge that it might have felt somewhat...less...than normal size.  He wasn't exactly packing much in that department and tended to content himself with his toned arms...

 ...Which also seemed less muscular than usual...

 '...I should go and see Tofu tomorrow.' It would be just like Happosai's particular brand of dickishness if the Moxibustion had some other effect on his body.

 Relaxing in the bath seemed like a distant dream now and Ranma quickly stepped out of the bath and let it drain before moving back into the outer room to towel himself dry.  There was a mirror in this room as well and Ranma took a bit of time to note that his male body seemed to have subtly changed between now and...whenever the last time was that he properly looked at himself.  

 As his eyes trailed down to his crotch, Ranma averted his gaze and started to put on his underwear.

 'Soft...'

 Ranma froze when he realized that it was his pair of panties that he had just donned and was disconcerted to realize that they actually fit him pretty well.  Ranma's head turned and he caught his reflection in the mirror, blushing hard with shame at the panty-wearing sissy that stared back at him.  Perhaps it was the dark-blue color of the satin panties, but Ranma could barely make out the bulge that represented his penis ensconced within.  

 '“Not that I'm suggesting that you're a sissy,” reassured Kenta-ojisan with a smile...'

 The fabric shifted the longer he stared at himself and Ranma was horrified to realize that he was actually starting to grow hard.  With a gasp, Ranma tore his gaze away from the mirror and rapidly entered back into the bathroom to splash some cold water on himself.  Exiting a few moments later, Ranma heaved deep breaths, taking relief at the very obvious girl who was wearing panties in the mirror.

 'It's normal for a girl to wear panties...It's normal for a girl to wear panties...It's normal for a girl to wear panties...' Ranma repeated this line to herself like a mantra and used it to get her breathing back under control.

 Ranma made a mental note and underlined it several times for her to go out tomorrow and get some boy's underwear as she got dressed.  While she hadn't seen her Mom yet, Ranma did meet Kasumi sitting in adjoining room that belonged to Soun with a bundle of clothes by her side.  She looked up as Ranma exited the outer room with an initial smile that gave way to a furrowed brow of concern.

 “Was the hot water not working again?”

 Ranma briefly debated lying and going along with her guess, but finally decided against it and shook her head, “Nah...Hot water's fine.  Just, uh...felt like staying like this, I suppose.”

 “Alright.” said Kasumi with a weirdly happy smile, “Do you mind grabbing Akane, Ranma-chan? I wanted to ask if she had any clothes she needed washed.”

 “Sure thing.  She upstairs?” It was an easy enough request and Ranma was kind of hoping that she could hang out with her before having to do any of her homework.  

 “She should be and thank you!”

 Ranma made a stop in his room to drop off his bag before casually walking down the hall to Akane's room with her hands behind her head.

 'Wonder if Akane already got started on the Math homework.  Maybe we can do it together-'

 “Mmmmh...! Oh...yes!” A long drawn out cry of passion cut off Ranma's train of thought and froze her in her tracks as she linked the voice to it's owner.

 “...Akane...?” whispered Ranma.

 “Ahhh...! Uuuuu, right there...! Oooh, yes...!” Ranma gulped as lewd moans seeped out from Akane's room, whose door was partially open.

 Ranma debated moving closer, hoping that it wasn't Akane she was hearing or...if it was, that she was by herself.  It was shameful, what she was thinking of doing and she reconsidered taking a very Happosai-like course of action, stopping just before she might have been able to peek into the room.

 No...that's not who Ranma was.  

 That being said, she was worried of being caught listening outside the door like this and a terrible misunderstanding occurring.  Instead, Ranma worked up her nerve and seized the opportunity presented in the lull and raised her voice.

 “Hey, Akane?”

 There was a sudden, dead silence following Ranma's greeting, followed by the sound of rapid movement and cloth.  More silence and then a quiet and rather embarrassed emanated from her room, “...Y-Yes?”

 “Kasumi...she, uh, wanted me to grab you.  Something about if you needed clothes that needed to be washed?”

 “O-Oh...T-Thanks for t-telling me.” Akane cleared her throat and her voice became more steady and confident, “Tell her I'll be right down.”

 “S-Sure.” said Ranma awkwardly and rummaged around in her stupid brain for something to say, “...Uh...S-See you later?”

 There was a pause followed by a quiet giggle.

 “Did...you want to come in here, R-a-n-m-a~?” Akane drew out her name in a sultry fashion and caused Ranma to stammer hasty denials.

 “N-NO! I-I-I'M OKAY! I...I'LLJUSTBEGOINGNOWBYE!” Ranma's rapid departure was trailed by Akane's sweet laughter.  

 A high-intensity workout in the dojo would be just perfect right now.

~Unfit~

 Tmp...! Tmp...! Tmp...!

 Three short knocks on Ranma's door drew her attention and she called for the person to come in.  Ranma blushed when she saw it was Akane, who had a slight smile on her face.  While Ranma had a lot of difficulty meeting Akane's gaze without her skin matching her hair, Akane seemed perfectly at ease during dinner and even joined in on some light teasing with Nabiki at Ranma's expense.  

 “Hey, Ranma.”

 “H-Hey, A-Akane.”

 Closing the door behind her, Akane took a seat besides her and started first, “So...I think we should talk about this afternoon.”

 “O-Oh? L-Like a-about w-what?” Akane levelled an unimpressed glance towards her and Ranma hastily spat out, “N-Not that I s-saw a-anything!”

 Akane snorted, “Like you would have the guts to do something like that.” She shook her head and propped her chin up with one hand, “But I'm pretty sure that you overheard me masturbating.”

 Ranma's mouth gaped like a fish at the blunt delivery.

 Akane giggled and pointed at Ranma's expression, “Yes! I bet my face looked just like that!”

 Ranma's mouth snapped closed as the full weight of the utterly insane conversation hit her and she turned a deep shade of red.  

 “W-W-Why a-are you telling m-me this?!” she managed to squeak out.

 Akane shrugged unrepentantly, “I didn't want to give you any weird ideas, that's all.” Ranma's silence was confirmation enough as Akane gave her a knowing smile, “See?”

 “R-Right...W-Well...U-Um...G-G-Good to k-know...” stuttered Ranma.

 Akane rolled her eyes and accused, “Oh, come on! It's perfectly natural! You can't tell me that you've never masturbated before!”

 “C-Could you keep i-it down?!” hissed Ranma, anxiously looking at the door fearing that Nabiki would pop in at any second.

 Akane's eyes widened, “Wait...have you never actually...?”

 “Of course I have!”

 “I already know just how much of a hair trigger you have as a guy after all.” sniggered Akane, sending a lance of shame straight to Ranma's heart as she continued, “But I meant as a girl.  You've never once tried to touch yourself?”

 It would be a lie to say that Ranma had never done so before, but she had never actually...gone all the way, so to speak.  Ranma's continued silence prompted Akane to continue talking in a more gentle tone.

 “It's...not wrong if you did, you know? It's normal...healthy, even! It's great for if you need help falling asleep.” 

 Ranma temporarily stopped focusing on the embarrassing nature of the conversation and considered that last point.  After all, she did have some troubles with sleep lately and maybe if she eased some...tension...she wouldn't be having any special dreams anymore either.  Ranma was soon brought back to the incredibly awkward present with a lurid suggestion from a deeply amused Akane.

 “...Did you want some...tips?”

 “N-No...! I'm...I'm good!” 

 Truthfully, Ranma couldn't say she wasn't excited by the prospect of being more physically intimate with Akane, but things were moving way too fast for her.  Besides, she seriously doubted that Akane would actually have gone through with it if Ranma had taken her up on it.

 'I mean there's NO WAY that she would have...Right?'

 Akane laughed and slowly stood up, “Okay, okay! That's all I wanted to say, then.   Good night!”

 “...Night.” 

 The door closed, leaving behind a slightly aroused Ranma who knew that she was going to have issues sleeping tonight.  Sure enough, Ranma once again woke up in the middle of the night from a dream prominently featuring both Akane and Kenta-ojisan.  This time, Kenta-ojisan had a more passive role and was instead hungrily watching both Ranma and Akane touch themselves and each other.

 Ranma could barely hear the crickets chirping as blood rushed through her ears and she stared with wide-open eyes at her dark ceiling.  The dream was still fresh in Ranma's mind and the talk she had with Akane only served to preserve its memory.  Ranma's thighs shifted against each other and she could feel the fluids of her arousal leaking down their inner surfaces.  

 'Maybe...I can just try it...Just once...Just so I can fall asleep...' 

 Her hand came up and hovered just over her breasts, before falling down the last few centimetres to touch one of her hard nipples that was poking through her top.

 “Ah!” Ranma gasped at the electric shock of pleasure from the contact, feeling more sensitive than it ever had.

 'This is normal...Everyone does it...'

 Ranma licked her lips and then brought her other hand to the other nipple, touching them both at the same time.  

 “Ahh...” Her fingers curled in preparation around her nipples and Ranma squeezed them a little harder, “Ah!”

 The extra stimulation felt much better, but already Ranma was craving more and she started to undo the buttons on her top, moving with increasing speed the more she undid.  Cool air greeted Ranma's now bare breasts and which were illuminated in the moonlight that filtered into her room and let Ranma properly see just how stiff her nipples were.  Feeling much more awake now, Ranma positioned her hands just above her large boobs and those wonderfully sensitive nipples of hers with a nervous excitement before pinching them.

 “MMMMH!” Ranma tried to tamp down on the lustful moan that left her mouth as best she could, glancing only once at her door which seemed to be closed before continuing with her exploration.

 “Ah...! Mmmh! Oh!” Ranma panted as she became less gentle with her movements and to started to tug and pinch her nipples with increasing vigour, eventually reaching a happy medium where she was roughly groping one of her breasts and tugging on the nipple of the other.

 'Akane, Ranma and Kenta-ojisan were all sitting together partially undressed in Ranma's room.  Kenta-ojisan's shirt was undone, revealing his hairy and flabby belly while Akane and Ranma were clad only in opened pyjama shirts and skimpy pairs of panties.  Ojisan had both Akane and her sitting on his lap and partially cupping their plushy bottoms with one of his large hands.

 He phrased his order as a teasing question that they both happily obeyed:

 “Why don't you two give each other a kiss?”'

 Parts of the dream that had she had awoken from (or perhaps it was an entirely new one) started to play out in her mind.  But unlike before, Ranma welcomed the debaucherous imagery as it only served to heighten the amount of pleasure she was feeling.

 “Yes...! Akane!”

 '“Ranma...” whispered Akane breathily as she leaned forwards and seized her in a passionate kiss.

 Ranma shivered with delight as Akane's fingers took a meandering trail up her bare skin, cupping her bare breasts and softly kneading them as her thumbs brushed over Ranma's nipples.'

 Ranma gasped loudly as she re-enacted the dirty fantasy by rubbing her own nipples, pretending that it was Akane with her.

 Beep!

 “Mmm! Oh...yes! Yes! Right there, Akane! Ahhh!”

 'While she continued to ravage the inside of Ranma's mouth and tease and grope Ranma's breasts, Akane sent her other hand down lower, slipping into Ranma's soaked panties...'

 Ranma lifted her hips off of the futon and tugged her pants down in a burst of aroused speed, her chest heaving with excitement.  An urgent desire to seek a feminine climax stripped any remaining hesitation from Ranma's lust-addled mind and her hand dove into her panties.  Ranma's pussy was radiating a moist heat and her middle finger trailed down the slick cleft briefly before dipping inside of her vagina with barely any resistance.

 “AH!”

 '“Thaaat's it, Akane...make her feel GOOD.” crooned Kenta-ojisan, who was leaning forwards now too and kissing all along Ranma's cheek and down her neck.

 Ranma whimpered with pleasure, shifting her hips so that Akane's fingers would go even deeper inside of her and causing both of them to praise Ranma.

 ““Good girl...””.'

 Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! 

 Ranma built up a slow and steady rhythm of one finger entering and exiting her pussy, moving her hips in time with the motion while her other hand continued to work on her breasts.

 “Mmmh! Mmmh! Ah! Ah! Ohhh...! Right there...!”

 Two fingers now and with a little bit of an increase in speed.

 Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! Shlck...! 

 Her pussy was warm and tight and it felt very, very nice when something was sliding through it.  Ranma's fingers were making obscene and wet noises as they plunged into and out of her cunt with more and more speed as she felt herself coming close to an orgasm.  

 'Akane was focused fully on Ranma's boobs and pussy now, releasing Ranma from their kiss and letting her girly moans be heard for all to hear.  A large and calloused hand seized the back of Ranma's crimson locks hard and she squealed joyfully at the rough treatment.  

 “Be a good girl and give me a kiss, Ranma-chan.” growled Kenta-ojisan.'

 “Yeeesss Oji-san!” replied Ranma needily, utterly lost in the throes of her lust as she fingered her pussy furiously and pulled on her nipple.

 She was up to three fingers now and she was so close!

 Schlk! Schlk! Schlk! Schlk! Schlk! Schlk!
 
 Inadvertently, in her wild movements, Ranma's thumb brushed over a small hard nub just at the top of her pussy, which sent a jolt of pure bliss straight to Ranma's brain.

 “AHHHH! MMMMHHH!” 

 Following her instincts, Ranma rubbed her thumb over what she was sure was her clitoris hard as the waves of pleasure that were raging within her body finally reached an overwhelming crescendo.

 “MMMMMAAAAHH!!!”

 Schp! Schp! Schp! 

 With her fingers still halfway buried in her vagina, Ranma's orgasm sent violent trembles through most of her body as her pussy spasmed and released small bursts of fluid in three quick squirts that ejected her fingers.  Ranma's orgasmic cries tapered down to pleased moans in between panting breaths as her body calmed down from the exertion.  The euphoria lasted for a bit longer, and her muscles fully settled down, leaving behind only a wonderful afterglow that had her soon drifting off into a dreamless and restful sleep.

 ...Beep!...

 “Hehe! Sweet dreams, Ranma-chan~”

~Unfit~

 On the plus side, Ranma had slept like a baby and had woken up feeling very good indeed and was an encouraging start to her Saturday.

 Unfortunately, it seemed that the end of the week had brought with it all the consequences of her actions during it in the form of one Nabiki Tendo, who pulled her aside after breakfast and into her room.  The questions Ranma had, died on her tongue when Nabiki pulled out a photograph showing a certain scene of three people.  Her mother was partly out of frame, while prominently displayed was Ranma in her female form standing in the foyer and getting kissed on the cheek by Kenta-ojisan.  The only thing was, from the angle of the photo, the kiss did not look like it was just on the cheek and the fact that she was in Kenta-ojisan's arms certainly did not help matters.

 While that was pretty bad, it had nothing on what Nabiki showed Ranma next which was a small cassette tape that she popped into her shiny new camcorder with a grin.  A familiar voice rang out from the video that was playing back on the small screen that had Ranma blanching at the contents:

[“Yeeesss oji-san!”]

 Bathed in the moonlight streaming into her room, Ranma watched with mounting horror as she watched herself very clearly call out for a man in the middle of masturbating.  Nabiki pressed a button and the scene paused, showing the frozen image of Ranma locked in the throes of lust.

 “...What do you want...?” asked Ranma hoarsely.

 “Good girl.” chuckled Nabiki, “Well, it's nothing too much...I just need you to drop off a certain package for me.  Do that and I'll give you this tape and the photo.”

 “...And the catch?” 

 Nabiki smirked, “I have a cute outfit that I need you to wear, but let's just say that we're going to need...some hot water first...”

 Twenty minutes later and looking in Nabiki's mirror, Ranma couldn't believe what he was looking at.  Staring back at him was what was supposed to be his male self (as the unbound and brushed black hair should have testified to), but instead, the only thing Ranma could see was a very cute girl staring back with wide eyes.

 'Is that...really...me...?' asked Ranma to himself in a sort of horrified awe.

 While Nabiki hadn't been so cruel as to dress Ranma in something truly slutty, she had elected to put Ranma in a bright yellow blouse with puffy short-sleeves and a zip on the back.  The bra that he had been forced to wear (along with a pair of matching pink panties) gave the impression of budding breasts as the shirt clung snugly to his slender frame.  A ruffled black pleated skirt decorated his lower half and stopped just above his knees, revealing a small expanse of smooth flesh before being covered by a pair of long white socks decorated in little hearts and ending in a pair of black Mary-Jane flats.  

 But the worst part was the face.

 What really stuck out to Ranma about his face was the fact that other than a shade of pink lipstick that Nabiki had painted onto his lips, she hadn't put anything else on.  Unless he spoke up or someone got a close look, Ranma doubted anyone would have been able to tell that he wasn't a girl.

 “You make for a pretty cute girl, Ranma-chan~” snickered Nabiki.

 Ranma shuddered and looked away from her – his – reflection, “Not...Not a girl...”

 “Sure, sure.” said Nabiki, patting his shoulder patronizingly.  “Now, if you're finished ogling yourself, I need you to get going with this-” Nabiki paused to hand a plain brown envelope tucked away in a drawer and press it into Ranma's hands,  “-and drop it off in the red mailbox just outside of the 'Nerima Fish Stop'.  Know where that is?”

 Ranma nodded silently, remembering the small shop with the decrepit looking mailboxes near Yuka's place.

 “Good! Now, I'll check if the coast is clear, so you can get going.”

 Ranma nodded again as he became fully invested in whatever clandestine scheme Nabiki had concocted.  There wasn't much he could do to protest unless he wanted to commit social suicide – or perhaps even risk a return of the 'Seppuku Contract' if his mother ever saw that video.  Surprisingly, Nabiki actually did her job of making sure that no one saw Ranma leave and sent him off with an irritatingly cheerful wave and a parting warning.

 “Try not to get splashed, by the way.  My victi- er, partner, is expecting a black-haired girl to be dropping off some of his photos.”

 Ranma fought to keep the scowl off of his face as that plan went up in smoke, even if it did provide some insight on what exactly Ranma was doing.  He supposed being a proxy to blackmail wasn't as terrible as he was expecting, though he did feel a little sorry for whoever else had gotten caught in Nabiki's web.  Still, some of his worry about potentially meeting another person must have shown on his face as Nabiki attempted to assuage his fears.

 “Don't worry.  You won't have to meet the guy and he won't recognize you either...unless you have contacts with middle-aged investment bankers.”

 “How did you even-” Ranma shook his head, “Nope, never mind.  I don't wanna know.”

 Nabiki chuckled, “Smart.  Well, better get going! I'll let my newest piggy-bank know that you'll be stopping by soon~” With an avaricious smile, Nabiki walked back into the house with a skip in her step.

 Ranma grumbled about greedy sister-in-laws under her breath and stomped off, though he quickly schooled his expression as he left the Tendo's street so as not to attract any attention.  It was a nerve-wracking journey and Ranma couldn't help but duck her head in fear of recognition as he passed by other people.  The worst was when she passed by other men who would occasionally do a double-take in his direction and prompt him to speed up.  So far, no one had tried to (successfully) talk to him and he was beginning to feel hopeful when he was nearing his destination.

 Right up until a certain bandana-wearing idiot made an appearance from the alleyway just in front of her.

 “Ugh! Those directions sucked! Where am I now?!” exclaimed Ryoga to the heavens.  Ranma froze on the spot and looked for places to hide when Ryoga lifted his face back down and met Ranma's wide-eyed gaze.

 “Ah...” Ranma couldn't help but let out a soft gasp as Ryoga's eyes widened.

 “You...” he began to say.

 'Ahh...it's over! It's OVER!' panicked Ranma internally.

 “E-Excuse m-me, M-Miss?”

 'Now he's going to tell EVERYONE! Akane's gonna want nothing to do with me for sure! What the hell am I gonna do?!'

 “M-Miss, a-are-” A cough from Ryoga and loud clearing of his throat managed to temporarily bring Ranma out of his panic and properly take in Ryoga's words, “Miss, are you...okay?”

 Steeling himself for the worst, Ranma hesitantly looked up to see a blushing Ryoga looking at him with concern...and no recognition.

 For the moment.

 Ranma dropped his gaze back down and replied, “Ye-” Ranma gave a small cough and tried to speak in a higher pitch, “Yes.  I-I mean.  I'm f-fine.”

 “G-Good! U-Um, I-I'm having s-some trouble looking for Nerima, M-Miss.  C-Could y-you-”

 “This is Nerima.” said Ranma succinctly, cutting Ryoga off.

 “Really?! That's great! Do you know where the Tendo Dojo is?!” asked Ryoga excitedly, “Or maybe Furinkan High? Do you go there? Or know a girl named Akane Tendo?”

 The rapid fire of questions was too much for Ranma to answer and so he just settled with a single nod, hoping he could just point out a direction and the idiot would be on his way.

 “You do? That's fantastic!” he cheered, though he lowered his voice soon after with a sheepish laugh, “Ah, but I'm not sure which question you were answering.  Do you know Akane Tendo? She's usually being followed by this cowardly martial-artist called Ranma Saotome.”

 A vein throbbed on Ranma's forehead and he snapped out a growled retort, “Who ya' callin' a coward?”

 Ryoga flinched back at the venom in his voice and the glare Ranma shot him when he looked up at the insult.  Ranma realized his mistake too late as he saw Ryoga start to apologize and then stop as his brow furrowed and give him a searching look.  Flustered at his mistake, Ranma quickly dropped his gaze back down to the concrete and winced as Ryoga started to slowly speak.

 “You...sound familiar...Have we met-?” began Ryoga, before he was interrupted by a loud voice filled with relief.

 “Yuka! There, you are!” 

 'What...That voice...?!' Ranma looked up and saw coming up from behind Ryoga was the portly figure of Kenta-ojisan sporting a smile on his face.

 Ryoga had turned curiously in the direction as well and was about to say something when Kenta-ojisan brushed past him and seized Ranma in a hug.  Ranma stiffened at the warm embrace and shifted his legs as his panties started to feel a bit uncomfortable. 

 “Play along.” An almost inaudible voice whispered those words into his ear and he blushed when Kenta kissed his cheek affectionately.  “Yuka! I've been looking all over for you!” announced Kenta-ojisan in a slightly scolding tone, but with a smile.

 “U-Uh, excuse me...do you know this person...?” came the questioning voice of Ryoga.  Kenta-ojisan moved to face towards Ryoga, hugging Ranma to his side with an arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

 “I would think that I know what my own daughter looks like, young man.” replied Kenta-ojisan with an amused voice.

 “D-Daughter? Oh...I thought...Well, uh, I wanted to ask for directions and...I thought she reminded me of someone...”

 “Hmm...As far as excuses go to flirt with cute girls, that's one of the better ones.” teased Kenta-ojisan.

 “F-F-F-Flirt?!” stuttered Ryoga with a furious blush that probably matched the one on Ranma's cheeks at being referred to as a 'cute girl' and Ryoga's next words didn't actually help Ranma's mixed emotions: 

 “I wasn't flirting with her!” there was a pause and an audible gulp from Ryoga who hastily continued, “Uh! N-Not that I-I wouldn't, you are really cute...Yuka-san, was it?”

 Ranma buried her beet-red face into Kenta's side, which the man took with good grace, “I think you embarrassed her, young man.  My little princess is pretty shy.”

 “O-Oh...S-Sorry a-about that.” apologized Ryoga, “But, uh, I really did mean it when I said I was asking for directions.  Do you know where the Tendo Dojo is?”

 The two talked for a bit and Kenta-ojisan rattled of a series of directions that Ranma was sure Ryoga would screw up before he even reached the first turn.  However, whether it was out of embarrassment or a desire to get to his destination, Ryoga didn't attempt to talk to Ranma again and for that he was thankful.  

 “Hm.  I'm pretty sure I told him to take a left, so why is he going the opposite way...?” commented Kenta-ojisan in a mystified voice that had Ranma let out a small chuckle.  Ranma could hear the teasing question directed his way and the smile in his voice with Kenta-ojisan's next words, “Feeling comfy?”

 Ranma pulled his face away from his side, though Kenta's arm remained wrapped around Ranma's toned stomach.  While he didn't hate the physical contact, it felt a lot weirder to do this when he was in his guy form and he timidly spoke up, “Um-”

 However, Kenta-ojisan cut him off, “You know...I always thought you were a bit too comfortable with that curse of yours.  Though it wasn't until I actually saw you dressed up like this that I realized how much you must enjoy being a girl.”

 Ranma paled and shook his head furiously, “It's...It's not like that oji-san-!”

 “Daddy.” interrupted Kenta-ojisan, “Call me 'Daddy' when we're alone like this.  You're supposed to be my daughter after all.” Kenta's laugh was laced with a threatening undertone and which sent ice through Ranma's veins.

 “...I-It's not like t-that...D...D-Daddy...” whispered Ranma.

 “There's a good girl.” rumbled Kenta with praise, that sent unwelcome feelings of joy at the demeaning phrase through Ranma's churning gut.

 “P-Please...Please don't tell anyone...” begged Ranma.

 “You mean like that little fiancee of yours? Wonder what she'd have to say knowing the guy she's supposed to marry is a crossdressing sissy...” mused Kenta mockingly.

 “Please! I'll...I'll do anything! Just please...don't tell Akane!”

 “Anything, huh? Well that's good to hear, because I have something in mind.  Meet me in the park near your school near the south exit at the restrooms tomorrow at...let's say...three in the afternoon.” he instructed and Ranma recalled the spot he was talking about when he met Yuka one time after school.  

 Kenta released a still shaking Ranma and left him a final few parting words that hung threateningly on the air:  

 “Don't be late.” 


~Unfit~

 Ranma showed up at the designated meeting spot almost an hour before the agreed time.  She, for Ranma had gotten splashed on the way, did not want to be late and risk pissing off her newest blackmailer.  Much of yesterday had seemed to pass by in a vivid blur after that ill-fated meeting with Kenta and even the successful completion of Nabiki's request and getting the photo and tapes didn't help much.  

 Nabiki was a known quantity.
 
 Kenta was not.

 Ranma was glad that the spot was pretty much barren of people and that no one could see her pacing anxiously in front of the toilets.  She had no idea what Kenta would demand of her – well, that wasn't exactly true as she could still remember the way he looked at her.  The real problem was that such looks didn't fill her with as much dread as it should have and so she was a walking bundle of confused emotions.

 'What does he want? What is he going to do? Is he really going to keep it a secret? Akane didn't say anything and she came back from Yuka's place yesterday, so maybe...maybe it'll be okay? But what if I don't do a good job for whatever reason and he tells her anyway?! Or what if-!'

 “Oh! Good girl! You're here early!” 

 Ranma was jerked from her panicking thoughts by the sound of Kenta's voice and looked up to see the man casually walking up towards her with a bag in his hand and a sly grin.  Before she could say anything, Kenta took her by the hand and led her into the male side of the public bathroom and closed the door behind him with an ominous click of the lock.  Ranma gulped as her only exit to the place had now been barred and glanced over her shoulder to gauge if she might be able to squeeze through the small window if she really needed to.

 A shuffling sound caught Ranma's attention and she looked back over to Kenta who was pulling out a bundle of cloth from the bag before tossing it to Ranma, “Catch.”

 Gulping, Ranma let gravity do the work to unfold the outfit in her fingers and reveal a Furinkan High's girl's uniform.

 Kenta was talking again, “Had to sneak this out of Yuka's room, but I really wanted to see what you'd look like in it.”

 Ranma's mouth felt dry and her body started to heat up from the request as she asked him haltingly, “And...is that...all?”

 Kenta simply grinned and said, “It's a start.”


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