Akane focused onto the cement bricks propped up in front of her. One thing she always liked about the familial house’s aging dojo was the silence. Whenever she put on her gi and exercised within the training room’s soundproof walls, it was as if she entered her personal little bubble, free from the passage of time and its obligations.

Her hand hovered above the bricks. She took a deep breath, lifted up her arm, and struck down, shattering them to pieces.

A piece of cement rolled away on the floor, getting caught under the foot of her older sister Nabiki, who had just opened the sliding door.

Akane exhaled with a smile, wiping sweat off her forehead. “Huff… Not bad, huh? Huff…”

“It’s a wonder why the guys at school are even interested in you when you could snap their neck in one fell swoop,” Nabiki said with a smirk. 

Akane growled. This was the last thing she wanted on her mind today. “Because they’re all idiots, the lot of them. Stupid boys…” Great… Now it was all she could think about, and the peaceful atmosphere of the dojo was disturbed. She clenched her fists, biting back some choice words about the unfairer sex.

Nabiki knew of her sister’s irritability and preferred to cut the incoming rant short. “Anyways, Dad called for a house meeting. Said it was urgent, apparently.”

Akane hoped it wasn’t trouble.

 

“A fiancé?” Kasumi, the eldest of the sisters, repeated after her dad. Akane finished settling down on her knees in front of the table. 

The father of three, Soun Tendo, nodded. “The son of an old friend of mine. His name is Ranma Saotome. If one of you three were to marry him, it would breathe new life into our dojo, and ensure our legacy survives to the next generation. He’s a trainee in the Anything Goes style, just like his father and I.”

“Wait a minute, why are we only hearing about this now!?” Akane replied. “Since when has this marriage been planned!?”

“Oh, it’s just about romance. Count me out then, that’ll save everyone’s time,” Nabiki said, getting up and heading upstairs to her room.

After a short moment of silence, Kasumi came in with a question to try and save her dad from her little sister’s glares. “How is Ranma-kun like, Father? Is he caring? Is he kind?”

Dad laughed nervously, dodging the question. He glanced at the postcard in his hands again. “He’ll be here very soon.”

The reply didn’t exactly inspire Akane with confidence.

“My friend Genma and his son have been on a training tour all across the world,” he continued, standing up and looking over their koi pond garden. “Their last destination was in China.”

“China, China…” Akane muttered under her breath. “Just because he traveled a lot doesn’t make him a master martial artist. I’ll be the judge of that myself.”

“Father, how old is Ranma-kun?” Kasumi asked, trying to give her father a second chance to pull himself out of the hole he was digging. “I hope he’s not younger than me…”

Their Dad laughed again, even louder than last time. “I don’t know,” he replied dryly.

The two sisters stared at him, both feeling stunned.

“I-I mean, I’ve never met him…” His voice cracked nervously.

Kasumi blinked a couple times, trying to shake off the shock she was feeling. Akane found herself very interested in staring down a stain in the tatami floor.

 

“Lemme go! Lemme go, ya big walkin’ pile a’ bamboo!” A shrill, feminine voice shrieked from outside, prompting the Tendos to attention. “Told ya I don’t wanna any part a’ this!” 

They heard the front door slide open.

“It seems we have visitors!” Kasumi stated, jumping at the opportunity to leave the awkward conversation. She stood up and walked briskly to the door.

“That doesn’t sound like a boy…” Dad pondered, following the elder sister.

Akane got up a moment later, and entered the corridor just in time to see her father and Kasumi running back in her direction, terrified by the giant panda following them. The creature in question barely fit under the ceiling. The floor creaked under its weight with each step it took. Akane wasn’t sure what was more surprising: that it walked on two legs, or that it seemed to be carrying a person over its shoulder like a sack of rice.

“Come on ya build-a-bear reject, can’t ya see you’re scarin’ em!? Stop!!” The lithe individual shrieked again, doing their best to punch the animal in the face.

Nabiki popped out from the other end of the hallway, the sister attracted back downstairs by the commotion.

Kasumi cowered behind her dad’s back. “Does your friend possess a pet panda, Father...?”

Soun nervously shook his head, stiff as a plank.

“Then what the hell is a panda doing there?” Nabiki asked.

Her father shook his head once more.

The panda stopped its advance. After a long, unreadable glare, It grabbed the person it was carrying by the collar of their shirt, and placed them down in front of Soun.

Akane glanced at what was unmistakably a girl. She seemed to be just under Akane’s height, with fiery red hair held in a pigtail. Her clothes were simple and Chinese in design - a red button-up shirt over simple black pants.

With the panda not seeming aggressive any longer, Soun regained his wits and looked down at the petite woman in front of him. Pointing incredulously at the stranger, he muttered a question. “You… You wouldn’t be Ranma, I hope?”

The girl self-consciously looked away, a complete change in character from the punching she had done just moments prior. “I am…” Strangely, the girl seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Ranko Saotome... Apologies.”

The panda growled and roared at the girl, who turned her head away from its ire.

Nabiki approached, carefully circling around the angry panda. She threw an appraising look at Ranko. “Dad, that’s a girl.”

“A girl…?” The Tendo patriarch repeated in disbelief, his face quickly drenching in sweat. Little by little, all color from his face drained out, until he fell unconscious.

“Dad!” Kasumi called out.

 

“I can’t believe dad didn’t even know Ranko-chan was a girl…” Kasumi muttered to her sister.

“Well I, for one, am thoroughly entertained,” Nabiki replied, her grin apparent in her tone.

Soun’s eyes fluttered open as a cherry petal fell onto his cheek.

“Nabiki, that’s not the place and time!” Akane reprimanded. “Ranko traveled so far to come see us, be serious for once!”

“Oh, Father woke up!” Kasumi said, jumping on the opportunity to end the argument.

Nabiki leaned over her father. “Hey Dad, couldn’t you have checked whether your friend’s child was a boy or a girl first?”

The girl in question fidgeted in her seat, scratching her cheek with her index finger.

“Saotome told me he had a son!” The sisters’ father replied solemnly.

“So what if she’s a girl?” Akane asked. As far as she was concerned, this was a development she was perfectly fine with. “A guest is a guest! We should be treating her with more respect!” She turned her legs to face Ranko, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Hey, wanna come see the dojo?”

“Hmm?” Ranko looked up at the dark haired girl. There was a little je-ne-sais-quoi to her expression that Akane thought made her look vulnerable.

“I’m Akane. Let’s be friends, okay?” She offered a kindly smile.

Ranko gave her one in return, and the two girls excused themselves from the scene.

 

“Welcome to the Tendo dojo!” Akane grandiosely announced as she opened the door. Ranko glanced around the modest room before entering. “You know martial arts, right?”

“Well, a little…” Ranko replied.

“Why don’t we have a little match, then?” Akane asked. “For fun!”

“I don’t know…” Ranko glanced away, her hands rocking behind her back. “I don’t really like to fight… but I can try if you want.”

Akane grinned. It had been so long since she last had a sparring partner. She hoped Ranko was underselling herself and they would get to train together from then on.

...A little thought at the back of her head wondered why she had so readily allowed a stranger into her most private bubble away from life. A thought for another day, maybe.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pull back my punches!” Akane reassured. Ranko gave a very gentle nod, and kept her arms held behind her back.

Seeing her opponent’s lack of a readying stance, Akane decided to start gently with a straightforward, simple punch.

“Eek!” Ranko let out, jumping above the fist coming right at her by reflex.

Akane was instantly confused. She followed with a kick, then one punch on each side, finishing on a high-kick. Ranko dodged every attack but looked increasingly distraught with each attempted blow. Akane huffed. Ranko was… clearly talented. The way she dodged was firmly in the realm of reflexes, but the specific gestures and movements spoke of experience that didn’t match the panic on Ranko’s face. Getting herself caught in her own head, Akane continued her attacks until she was breathing heavily.

“Please, stop!” Ranko begged, on the verge of tears.

Akane ran towards the girl with a punch at full force. Ranko dodged once more by jumping above the blow — which came to lodge itself into the wooden wall — and rolling forward in mid-air until she found herself behind Akane’s back.

Akane slowly turned her head around, finding herself face to face with a Ranko collapsing on her legs and crying. She pulled out her fist from the hole, looking at her dirtied hand for a second. What had possessed her to do that? She was way too competitive.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” She asked, dropping to her knees next to Ranko.

“I don’t like fights… They’re so stressful…” Ranko replied, large tears falling out of her eyes. Akane hoped she hadn’t accidentally pushed the poor girl into a past traumatic experience.

She didn’t know what to say to console the girl. She settled for saying what she herself would’ve wanted to hear if she was in Ranko’s position. “You know, despite that, you’re pretty good…”

Ranko sobbed, forcing herself to dry her tears. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

Akane grabbed the girl’s hand and helped her back to her feet. “It’s gonna sound a bit weird, but I’m so glad you’re a girl.”

Ranko blushed slightly, glancing away. “Thanks… but why?”

Akane pondered the question for a moment. “Well, I don’t think I could stand losing to a boy, honestly.”

Ranko tightened her grip on Akane’s hand, before letting go.

A knock at the door caught their attention. It was Kasumi. “Mind if I take our guest off our hands, Akane-chan?”

“Sure! I hope we’ll get a rematch soon, Ranko.” Heading out first, Akane didn’t notice Ranko self-consciously glancing at her hand.

 

Ranma followed behind Kasumi, who brought him to an unused guest room upstairs. “Ranko-chan, feel free to make yourself at home here.”

“Aye.” He dropped his bag unceremoniously in the middle of the room. So that’s where pops and he were to live, huh? Hopefully he could force himself back on the road before the lie came to light.

“Say, why don’t you go down and take a bath, Ranko-chan?” She handed him a fresh towel she had brought with her.

“Uh… Thank, but no thank ya.” He replied, pushing away the folded bundle of cloth.

“I insist,” Kasumi continued, dropping the towel in his hands, “especially if you’ve exercised with Akane-chan!”

He looked down, not wanting to make a fuss. “Aye…”

 

Once in the bathroom, Ranma started his cleaning routine by pouring a bucket of cold water onto himself. “Brrr!” He exclaimed. Too cold! He would have to mess with the hot water valve next time, for something a bit less glacial. Lathing himself with soap, rinsing, shampoo, rinsing again, then conditioner, he rinsed himself one last time, before glancing at the warm bathtub with apprehension. After all, he couldn’t not think about the curse right now.

He loomed over the bathtub, carefully considering whether to dive in or not. He technically didn’t have to, did he? He was already clean, he could just say he didn’t need the relaxation of a bath. Maybe he should just leave now and continue pretending to be Ranko around the Tendos. Surely, any second he could spare in his favor was for the better. The more the Tendos thought he was a girl, the higher his odds of getting out of this fiancée deal.

Yep. That was the reason she was gonna go with. And just in case, she switched to thinking of herself as a girl for now, if only to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally sell her real gender away. ...Something about that last thought made her grimace.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the door suddenly opening. On the other side, a naked Akane stood, holding but a towel against herself. “Uwah!” Ranma jumped back in surprise, his cheeks growing red as tomatoes.

Akane raised an eyebrow. “Are you feeling alright, Ranko?”

“Uhh, yeah, aye, never better!” Smooth, Saotome, smooth. “Say, why don’t ya take the room? I’m clean ‘nyways, haha!” 

Akane giggled. “It’s okay! I didn’t know you would be in there. We could bathe together if you’re fine with it, since we’re both girls?”

Ranma laughed nervously, navigating himself to the other side of the door into the laundry room while pushing Akane in. “Aye aye, that we sure are! Gotta go!” He promptly closed the door, then brought his hands to his face. It was improper of a man amongst men to ogle women like that! He swiftly put his clothes back on, then ran to his room before anybody could stop him. Unfortunately for him, the glance he got to take into the living room told him his pops was about to spill the beans. How could he not have thought about that?

 

That strange little scene aside, Akane calmly finished her bath twenty minutes or so later. As the evening was waning into night, she put her pajamas on, then got herself out of the laundry room. Heading to her room, she stopped dead in her tracks as she passed by the living room and saw a bald old man, wearing an off-white gi, a bandana, and a pair of glasses, calmly talking to her father.

“Ah, Akane! Perfect. Go fetch Ranma, please.” Dad demanded.

She rolled her eyes, but got to the task. “Her name’s Ranko, you know.” As she headed upstairs, she just got to catch the bald old man muttering something about an ‘unapproved deception’.

She headed to the guest room and knocked on the door. “Ranko, my Dad has requested your presence downstairs.”

After a few seconds of hesitation, the door slid open, revealing a puffy-eyed Ranko hugging a pillow. “I’m sorry for what is about to happen.”

 

The entire family, plus Ranko and the mysterious old man, reconvened in the living room around a few cups of tea. The doors facing the garden had been pulled wide open to let the night breeze in. Tendo-san looked melancholically at the full moon, then turned his head to the assembly in the room. “Allow me to introduce them once more.” He gestured at the stoic old man. “This is the old friend of mine I was talking about.”

The man bowed slightly. “Genma Saotome.” He then pointed to the distraught Ranko sitting at his right. “And this is my son…”

Ranko didn’t say anything.

“Ranma Saotome.” Genma stated on her behalf.

Akane looked confused. Nabiki had had enough shenanigans for the day and had stopped finding them amusing for now. Kasumi looked like her heart was broken apart.

“So… What’s the deal with all this?” The middle daughter eventually asked, sighing.

Genma seemed pensive for a minute. “Hmm… I don’t know where to begin.” He reached for the teapot, then stood up. “Why don’t you take a look at this, for starters.”

Ranko’s face was one of total apprehension.

Genma slowly poured out the near scalding liquid on top of his child’s head. They screamed in discomfort, and a moment later, to the three daughters’ total surprise, a boy stood in her place. Akane noted his sudden growth, he now towered over her by at least a foot; as well as his hair color, which had become black as ink.

Kasumi nearly fainted.

Ranma growled. “What the heck are ya doin’ ya glorified bamboo trashcan!?”

“Ah…! I am so ashamed…! I cannot bear to know my son tried to deceive you all…!” Tears flowed out of Genma’s eyes. “Ranma… Your father is so disappointed…!”

Ranma grabbed his father by the gi and threw him into the koi pond in the garden. 

This time, it was a wave of contempt that hit Akane and Nabiki as a giant panda emerged from the water, Genma’s gi stretched over its shoulders.

“Ya useless excuse for a father!” Ranma started punching into the panda’s soft belly, which quickly prompted the animal to start fighting back. Akane thought that odd. Wasn’t he utterly terrified of fighting?

“Father,” Kasumi started, slowly recovering, “you certainly have… some unusual friends.”

Tendo-san nodded. “I have yet to hear the full details myself. their changing bodies seems to be related to their dangerous training in China.” He turned his head towards his eldest daughter. “Kasumi, go refill the teapot. It’ll take them a moment to stop fighting anyway.”

 

“I am…” Once more, Ranma hesitated, but… there was nothing else to hide. The gig was up, now. “Ranma Saotome. Apologies.”

“It all started one month ago…” Genma, back in his human form, announced. 

Ranma fidgeted in his seat. Already he could feel himself flash back to that fateful day, as fresh in his memory as ever. He didn’t need to hear more from his father as he got lost in recollection.

It was somewhere near Mount Quanjing, in the Qinghai Province of China.

His father had brought him to the ‘legendary training grounds’ of Jusenkyo - essentially, a plantation of long bamboo poles cultivated in hundreds of natural springs a few meters apart from each other.

“Here sirs,” he still remembered the half competent Japanese of the springs’ guide, “you are at famous Training Ground of Cursed Springs, Jusenkyõ.”

“Are you ready, Ranma?” His father had asked, omitting too many of the important details.

“Well this doesn’t look half as bad as I’d thought it’d be!” He had exclaimed foolishly, dropping his bag of provisions to the ground.

“This place very dangerous, you know!” The guide had stated. “Nobody use it anymore. Over hundred springs here, each one has tragic story with it!”

The Saotomes had jumped into place, setting themselves atop the bamboo poles. The guide had shouted about a tourist scare story or another, but they had stopped listening.

“I won’t go easy on you, boy!” Genma had warned.

“Just the way I like it!” He had replied. They’d traded blows in mid air, until a kick to the chin had sent his dad flying into a pond. “Gotcha!” He had looked down smugly at the body of water Genma was in. “Ya okay, old man? Age catchin’ up with ya, maybe?”

The surprise at seeing a panda pop out of the water had stunned him and left him completely open for a counter-attack; and soon, he had been the one heading straight towards a spring. The guide had warned about a drowned girl and his heart had skipped a beat as his mind put together what was to happen to him an instant before he had collided with the water.

As he had fallen in, a weird prickling sensation he has since become very used to had attacked him on all sides. When he had headed back out for air… Well, the rest was history.

“Ranma, cease your unmanly sobbing!” His father’s clear voice brought him back to the present. He noticed the tears spattering his hands. Had he really been crying? He hadn’t even noticed. He regained his composure a moment too late — when his father lifted him by the shirt and threw him into the koi pond. “Were you not prepared to lay down your life for the sake of the martial arts!?”

Ranma in girl form emerged back from the water, bobbing gently as he held his hands together and looked down. “I’m sorry…”

“That is certainly tragic.” Soun stated as Ranma shamefully walked back to his seat. “However...” The girls’ father grabbed the tea pot and aimed for Ranma, who quickly dodged. “Ranma, I’m trying to illustrate that you change back into a boy with hot water!”

His attempt long defeated, Ranma didn’t feel in a combative mood anymore. “Please, all I ask is that you use less scalding heat...”

 

Akane’s father laughed, dropping a hand on Ranma’s shoulder. “Well, now! Your problem isn’t so terrible after all! You’re still a man on the inside.”

“...I’m going to bed.” Kasumi stated, before hurriedly standing up and heading out.

Akane gave Ranma a mixed glance. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She felt betrayed by the way he had pretended to be a girl, and therefore that a man had beat her. Yet at the same time, there was something about Ranma’s behavior that intrigued her a lot. It kept flip-flopping before coarse and foul, that one she didn’t like so much, but also a more modest, if extremely feminine version. Which, too bad she was a girl, Akane wouldn’t be able to date her since she was straight. Wait, why was she thinking of dating Ranma? Plus, he is a boy, she can date boys! She frowned in confusion, completely lost in that jumble of thoughts.

She brought her focus back on what her dad was saying. “Well, Ranma, the one who just left is Kasumi, she’s nineteen,” he turned Ranma towards Nabiki, “My second daughter Nabiki, she’s seventeen,” then towards Akane, “and this is my third daughter, Akane. She’s sixteen, just like you. You can pick any of them as your fiancée.”

Nabiki slapped Akane on the back. “Well then, a match made in heaven! Kasumi clearly doesn’t want it, I’m not interested in dating, and Ranma’s half a girl, that’s perfect for Akane!”

“Excuse me, what?” Akane blushed, still coming off her earlier confusion about the feelings Ranma had dug up.

“I mean, since you don’t like men.” Nabiki shrugged.

“Oh! Oh, that. Yes. Okay...“ She thought through what was happening and her blush disappeared. “Wait, no! I don’t want to be forced into a marriage!”

Ranma’s expression shifted from meek to angered. “Yeah! I ain’t signed up for that either!”

“Well, since we’re in agreement, we are not marrying!”

“Exactly!”

“See? Perfect couple! They’re already on the same wavelength!” Soun said to Genma.

 

Fueled by pure contrarian spirit, Ranma glared at the dads, then at Akane. “...No way I’d want to date a…” Words jumped around in his head in confusion, until one popped out from the recesses of his mind. “...an uncute tomboy like ya anyway!” For some reason, the words felt as hurtful to him as he had intended them to be for Akane.

 

Nabiki scuttered backwards. Not only had she never seen someone put their foot in their mouth like that before, but calling Akane a tomboy was a quick way to send her in a murderous rage.

The girl in question lifted the table and threw it straight at Ranma, who didn’t even attempt to dodge, out of guilt, it seemed.

“...He brought that one upon himself this time.” Genma commented.

 

Ranko awoke in her own room, a splitting headache blurring her vision. She focused her eyes for a second, recognizing the older sister Kasumi. As the pain flared up, she went to clutch the back of her head. “Oww…”

“Are you okay?” The elder daughter asked.

“I messed up…” Ranko stated.

Kasumi clenched the girl’s hand in compassion. “I understand you have a lot on your mind, Ranko-chan. Please, don’t think too badly of Akane. She’s a bit prone to violence, but she has a kind heart.”

As the pain faded, Ranma let out a sad groan. “My name’s Ranma.”

“Well… Unless you don’t want it to be.” The eldest daughter replied, standing up and heading for the door.

He glanced at Kasumi, a little confused. What did she mean by that?