Akane finished her morning jog by practicing a few of her punches and kicks while running. It was important for her to warm herself up every morning, not only as a martial artist, but also to prepare herself for the circus awaiting her at the school gates. She took a right turn back into her residence, and was surprised to hear that the two Saotome guests were fighting.

There was something about this that deeply hurt her. Wasn’t Ranma afraid of fighting? He had told her so yesterday, after all. Or had that just been a part of the farce he had tried to pull? Had he used it as an excuse to go easy on her, maybe? Were his tears yesterday just crocodile ones? Why couldn’t he just fight her for real? Boys were all the same, weren’t they.

She kicked off her shoes in the entrance and walked to the living room. Looking into the garden, Ranma and Genma were fighting around the koi pond, which seemed a bit antithetical to their water-activated curses. Maybe it was their motivation to give their sparring their all… “Or maybe they’re just stupid,” she muttered under her breath.

“Saotome-sama, Ranko-chan! Breakfast is ready!” Kasumi announced.

The two martial artists exchanged a few blows, before each retreating to their side of the pond. “…But stupid or not, I can’t deny they’re talented…” Akane mused as she observed them, sitting down next to Nabiki.

 

“Alright, my boy, let’s stop for breakfast.” Genma offered.

Ranma relaxed his stance, stretching his arms and neck. “Ain’t it about time! I’m starvin’.”

“YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!” Genma suddenly jumped out at his son and swept him off his legs, causing Ranma to fall into the pond. “Rule number one of Anything Goes: anything goes! You better do yourself a favor remembering that one, you’re getting sloppy, Ranma!” He let out a crass belly laugh, and his disgruntled teen took advantage of the opportunity for a counter-attack. With a punch to the ankle, it soon was his turn to enjoy a cold morning dip.

“Now look who’s gettin’ sloppy, pops!” Ranma taunted.

The bantering spar quickly turned into a brawl with a furious panda.

 

“I know you aren’t much used to it, boy,” Genma said as the two men, still drying up from their more traditional bath, walked towards the living room, ”but I’ll be sending you to school today.”

“Pardon? School?” Ranma replied, clutching his towel against his chest.

“Well, we are going to be here for a while. A true martial artist should know more than just how to throw a punch,“ the Saotome patriarch explained before heading upstairs.

“Oh… I suppose.” Ranma had never truly gotten to settle at any school for more than a few months at a time. The longest he had held was back in middle school - but then again, it had never been his fault that his dad constantly took them both on the road. That certainly felt like a change of heart from the old man… That, or this fiancée business was a scam as usual, and in eight weeks’ time they would be back to training around the world. Fifty-fifty, with his father making the decisions.

Nabiki came out of the living room dressed in full school uniform. “You’ll be going to the same school as Akane and I, you know. It’s called Furinkan High.” She had apparently caught the conversation. With a spin and a wave, she rushed herself to the entrance. “See you there, Ranma!”

He couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the middle daughter’s school uniform. It was a light blue dress on top of a white t-shirt with short puffy sleeves. He pondered for a second how that would look on his girl form… If ever it came to that, after all.

“Wait for me, Nabiki! I’m coming with you!” Akane shouted from behind the partition door.

“No thanks, I like to get to my classes on time!” Nabiki replied back at the same volume. Ranma wondered what she meant by that. “Plus you need to show the way to your fiancé, you know? Anyway, I’m off~!”

“Oh come on sis, that’s not—” Walking out, Akane found herself nose to nose with Ranma.

Once again, the first thing he noticed was the uniform she was wearing, identical to Nabiki’s, of course. The two teens appraised each other in awkward silence. Ranma still felt self-conscious about his outburst from last night, and he couldn’t say he had any idea what the girl in front of her was thinking about, but it understandably didn’t seem positive.

Akane eventually broke the silence, ripping her angered glance away from Ranma and heading towards the front door. “Hurry up and get ready instead of staring at me like that.”

Genma came back and handed Ranma a change of clothes and a school bag, before taking a cautious glance at the clouds gathering in the sky and handing out an umbrella as well.

 

Akane silently walked alongside Ranma for a while, the boy holding his hands behind his back. She couldn’t say she understood him, but then again, she was perfectly content letting him stay a mystery anyway. The path to school took them by a small river protected by a wire fence to prevent people from falling in. Akane saw Ranma fidget. He moved his hands into his pockets and jumped on top of the fence, carefully balancing his steps and resuming his way forward.

She sighed loudly, looking away from his antics. “If anybody asks, we don’t know each other.” Akane said.

“Fine by me,” he replied. “Didn’t wanna get another table to the face ‘nyways.”

Akane seethed in silence. Even if Ranma had certainly provoked her, she couldn’t say she was proud of herself for last night, and she didn’t need to have it rubbed in her face.

An irate Genma sped onto the scene and jumped on the fence, shouting right into Ranma’s face. “Talk to your fiancée with more respect, boy!”

Ranma took a step back in surprise. “Gaah! Were ya trailin’ us, pops!?”

“Ranma, let me tell you something! This marriage is very important for the survival of the Anything Goes style, and if you ruin it with your personal affairs—” He was cut off by a swipe to the leg similar to this morning’s, and tumbled down into the river.

Ranma crouched down on the fence, looking down. “What’s wrong, pops? Panda got your tongue?”

Genma replied by jumping back up and attempting to swipe Ranma down with his paw, who quickly scuttered backwards to avoid the series of blows.

“Hah! Good try pops, but you ain’t splashin’ me like that!”

A droplet fell from the sky.

Followed by a heavy rain.

“Well, so much for that…” Akane muttered to herself, grumbling.

Ranma sheepishly pulled out his umbrella, too little too late.

The panda ran back in the direction of the Tendo residence, while the two teens pressed forward towards the school.

 

Arriving at the school, Akane gestured for Ranma to hide himself in a corner. “Wait out the rain here, then try to find hot water somewhere. It’s not like you can go to school as a girl, now, is it?”

“Oh…” Ranma fidgeted, bringing his second hand up to his umbrella’s handle. “Well... Why not, actually? Maybe I should introduce myself as a girl… After all, it would be easier to stay away from hot water than cold, especially on rainy days like these...”

Akane shook her head. “And let you into the girls’ locker room for sports class? No way.”

Ranma looked down at the ground. “I didn’t think about that. Sorry for suggesting.”

Akane rolled her eyes. She had difficulty finding Ranma’s apology genuine when she still didn’t know what was the deal with the way he ‘fought’ her yesterday. She decided she didn’t want to think about it on top of what was about to happen. “Well, one way or the other… I guess it’s time for me to brace myself.”

“Oh?” Ranma muttered.

“Remember how I said I don’t like men?” Akane headed towards the gate. Despite the torrential rain, a rumble coming from the front doors of the main building quickly pierced through the ambient noise. She picked up the pace, going into a full-on sprint. “WELL, I HATE BOYS!”

The source of the rumble quickly revealed itself to be a double dozen of sports club leaders running straight at her, their sport equipment drawn. They proclaimed their love for the young Tendo girl in a disorganized cacophony and immediately set upon her!

Akane dodged the fencing sword and knocked out its owner with a strike of the palm, blocked the boxer’s punch with her school bag, sidestepped him and kicked him in the back. She jumped forward, stopped the hockey player’s stick, and sent it flying back into his head before kicking the footballer down. The martial artists coordinated an attack, which she blocked by using the hockey player as a shield before sending him barrelling into the group, causing them to fall onto the ground like a pack of bowling pins.

 

Ranma was looking at the scene from the side of the gate, his curiosity having taken the better of him. One by one, Akane dispatched the assailants, far outclassing even the ones trained in combat sports.

“Why is this happening…?” The seemingly gratuitous violence caused him to fidget uncomfortably.

“Hey, Ranm… Ranko!” Nabiki shouted from a window on the first floor of the school. “Don’t worry about Akane, she does that every day!”

“I’m not worrying…” Ranko muttered to herself. “I just feel bad for these boys, even if they did provoke her…” She looked away as her legs started shaking. She abhorred violence. She couldn’t stand it.

...The question was why sometimes, she engaged in it with glee.

With one last kick into an unfortunately positioned chin, Akane dispatched the last of the sports boys.

“Urgh… Honestly, every single morning!” Akane muttered, catching her breath while heading for the school building, not wanting to stay under the rain any longer. “I’m so tired of it...”

A small projectile flew right past her head. She caught it by reflex, and when she noticed the item in question was a single red rose… she grimaced.

Revealing himself from behind a tree, a young boy armed with a kendo sword walked barefoot towards Akane, melodramatically reciting a buddhist proverb. “The bell of the Gion Temple tolls into every man's heart to warn him that all is vanity and evanescence. The faded flowers of the sala trees by the Buddha's deathbed bear witness to the truth that all who flourish are destined to decay.”

Akane glared intensely at the man, but Ranma couldn’t help but think his feet would be caked with mud if he didn’t walk out of the dirt soon.

“What a pathetic lot.” He stepped aside and onto the walkway, to Ranma’s relief. “Every single one wishing to date you, Akane, hoping for the day they finally gain this right by defeating you.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that, Tatewaki!?” Akane shouted, interrupting his monologue. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have classes to go to…!” She tried to run past him, only to have her way blocked by his sword.

 

“Wait! Wait, Akane Tendo…” Tatewaki said.

Akane looked uneasy, expecting him to challenge her any second now. She really didn’t want to waste any more time than she had to, but unlike the other boys, Tatewaki had a fighting chance, and that terrified her immensely. He actually had the strength to force a duel even if she refused, and it was only on his good days that he remained honorable about an opponent refusing to fight.

Tatewaki pointed his sword towards Akane and let it hang in the air for a second. She feared the words about to come out of his lips… And he surprised her by turning his sword to somewhere on her left. “Who is this beautiful lady I see cowering behind you?”

Akane turned her head in exasperation, finding Ranma shaking behind one of the pillars of the school gate. She rolled her eyes and let out an immense sigh. Hadn’t she told him to stay hidden? Akane came up with a plausible lie as fast as she could. “...This is Ranko Saotome. She is not coming at our school,” she glared at the individual in question as she said those words, “but her brother Ranma is.” It wasn’t ideal as far as cover stories went, but any consequences were future her’s problem.

Not wanting to be impolite, Ranma pulled himself out of his hiding spot and walked to Akane’s level, before bowing, his gaze planted firmly on his feet. “...Enchanted to meet you,” he mumbled.

Tatewaki held out his fist in front of him, tightly clenching his fingers. He grit his teeth and looked up at the sky… Akane grimaced again as she noticed tears trailing down his face. “AAAH! SO HUMBLE AND POLITE! MY HEART ACHES WITH LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!” He cried out. He walked towards Ranma, took Ranma’s hand in his and gently deposited a kiss on its back. “I am the rising new star of the high school kendo world, bearer of strength beyond measure, I am the captain of the kendo club of Furinkan High School, my voice alone can silence a crying child, I am a junior in class E, my peers call me… The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!” He raised his sword to the air, as if expecting a perfectly timed bolt of lightning to appear. When no such thing happened, he lowered it back down and clenched his hand on Ranma’s. “Tatewaki Kuno, seventeen. You may call me Tatewaki, pig-tailed girl.”

 

A tremor traversed Ranma’s body from his toes to the tip of his ears, and he violently punted Tatewaki with a punch to the forehead. “Don’t ya touch me ya womanizin’ delusional two-brain-celled himbo!”

Tatewaki was out cold in one strike.

“Oh, great, violent Ranma is back,” Akane sourly said.

“Violent? The real question’s why sometimes it’s like I can’t even throw a punch, if ya ask me!” He crossed his arms with a huff.

As the rain finally abated, a giant panda arrived on the scene at just the right time with a scaldingly hot teapot in hand, and he tackled Ranma into his arm, carrying him away.

 

The two Saotomes found refuge in the P.E. Equipment Room.

“What’s with this school ‘nyways?” Ranma asked himself aloud, wringing the water out of his pants legs. “‘ven that middle school wasn’t half as crazy as the jerks here.”

“He might be an idiot, but you’d do good not to underestimate Tatewaki.” Akane said, peeking in from the window. “If you’d been a guy, I don’t even wanna know what fight you two would’ve gotten into.”

“I am a guy!” Ranma retorted.

“You know what I meant.” Akane replied. Genma poured the contents of the teapot on Ranma’s head, turning him back into his guy form.

Ranma grabbed one of the spare towels kept in the equipment room and started drying his hair, musing aloud. “If only bein’ in my girl form was all it took to not be a guy.” He frowned, wondering if there was more to what he just said than met the eye. Eh, probably not.

 

“So the whims of the Kudo heart struck again, huh?” Nabiki whispered, leaning towards Tatewaki’s desk with a sly grin, after making sure the teacher wasn’t paying attention to her. She found the idea of this hare-brained idiot being in love with Ranma-as-Ranko totally hilarious.  She loved the tribulations that came with amorous relationships, as long as she was kept far away from the equation.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe, Nabiki Tendo.” He melodramatically placed his hand in front of his head, touching it by the tip of his fingers, and closed his eyes. “When I saw the pig-tailed beauty, her charms instantly tamed me, The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High.”

First she had heard of the nickname. Last week he was still calling himself Shooting Star. Anyways, she had already come up with the perfect thing to say to make the situation even more entertaining, without selling Ranma’s budding double identity, of course. “You do know she’s gay, right?”

Tatewaki’s eyes suddenly opened. “What?”

The fish had taken the bait. Nabiki’s grin turned a bit more malicious. “Ranko. She’s not into men~.”

Tatewaki suddenly stood up from his chair, mouth slightly agape, and attracted the attention of all the people in the room. “HOW UNCOUTH OF ME TO DISRESPECT A LESBIAN LIKE THAT!!”

A chalkboard eraser came crashing onto his face. “Tatewaki! Hallway, now!”

“...Yes teacher.” He left the room under the laugh of his classmates.

 

A few classrooms over, the teacher finally got to introduce Ranma to the class. He read aloud a piece of paper he had been given to recite. “We have a new student joining us today in sophomore class F. His name is Ranma Saotome.” He gestured at the young man standing at attention before the blackboard. “It seems he has just returned from a trip to China… So you all make sure to give him a big ‘Nihao’, alright?” He grinned despite himself, but the smile quickly disappeared as he realized none of the students found his joke funny. “Well, maybe not. Be as it may, both he and Akane were late this morning, so I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you two to go stand in the hallway.”

 

“I hate how frequently that happens.” Akane muttered.

“I getcha. It ain’t even your fault, really.” Ranma replied at the same volume. “Why’s that even happenin’ anyway?” 

“You can thank Kuno for that. At the beginning of the semester, he held an assembly, and…” Her shoulders slumped. ”he declared that anyone who wished to date me would have to defeat me in combat first.”

Ranma slowly blinked.

“It’s dumb, right?” Akane said. “Yet it is what it is, I guess. It’s not like they’re going to give it a rest no matter how many times I whoop their butts.”

“So, like, putting aside the small fries… Ya fight with Kuno every mornin’?” Ranma asked.

“Almost always. Thankfully I have yet to lose, but… Every time, he gets better.” Akane explained. “If only I knew what to tell him for him to understand I’m not interested…”

Ranma stretched his arms up above his head, glancing down at Akane. “Ya think maybe he’s holdin’ back cuz you’re a girl?”

“You mean like you did yesterday?” She replied with a glance of her own.

“The… circumstances were different.” Ranma said. “But aye. I don’t think I could fight a girl for real, not in my guy body at least. That ain’t the man amongst men way.”

Akane giggled. “You? A man amongst men?”

“Aye, don’t laugh!” He crossed his arms with a huff. “What, ya think my curse changes any a’ that?”

“Speaking of, if we were to have a rematch —with you as a girl again, I guess— but this time you don’t whine about how scared of violence you are, you’d fight me for real?” She asked.

“Well… Maybe? Ain’t like I have much control on my feelings though…”

They heard footsteps heading straight for them. Ranma flinched as he recognized the doofus from earlier.

“Kuno!?” Akane hissed.

“You must be Ranma Saotome, right?” Tatewaki asked.

“Aye, that’s me! What, ya lookin’ for a fight?” Ranma replied, smirking.

“Is what Nabiki told me true!?” Akane’s blood ran cold. She better not have spilled the beans on the engagement! “About your sister Ranko!?”

“‘scuse me, what?” Ranma questioned, immediately lost.

“IS RANKO TRULY A LESBIAN!?” Tatewaki clarified at full volume. 

Akane’s jaw dropped, Ranma’s blood ran to his face, and the windows to the classroom opened with the excited chatter of an entire class’ worth of eavesdroppers. 

“I— I mean—...” Ranma’s eyes darted around in panic as he clenched his hands together. “I, well, she… Ranko, she, uh… Does not like men, yes…”

“AAAAAH, WHAT A DISGRACE I AM!!” Tatewaki shouted at the top of his lungs, prostrating himself in shame. “Please, do give her the message that I shall never pursue her ever again! I totally understand and respect in every way that a lesbian cannot be interested in me, and I offer her all of my blessings in her own love life!!”

Akane didn’t think the answer to her question on how to get rid of Tatewaki would appear this suddenly. She couldn’t say she liked the answer, though… She definitely didn’t want to have to pretend to be a lesbian at school. Plus, that’d require her to find a girl to crush on first anyway! ...No, wait, there was that weird logic from last night again.
    She decided to discard that train of thought by focusing on Ranma. She didn’t think she had ever seen him that pale, like he was about to… he fainted before she could finish her thought.

Well, she was clearly not going to get any schoolwork done this morning. She guessed she might as well drag him to Dr. Tofu’s clinic to make sure he was alright.

 

Ranko slowly woke up in a room she had never seen before. She stirred in the comfortable bed, before stretching and taking on her surroundings more carefully, unfortunately still feeling a bit of a fog over her mind. Judging from the numerous medicine cabinets, she gathered she must’ve been in a clinic of some sort.

“Oh, are you awake?” She heard a gentle sounding voice call out. A moment later its owner showed themself. 

A man (at least she assumed so, they seemed slightly more masculine than feminine) approached her with a simple smile on their face. They wore a simple black getup and glasses, but Ranko instantly recognized the outline of a bra underneath the person’s shirt, making her wonder if her first instinct had been wrong.

They took note of Ranma’s glance immediately. “This is your first time here, isn’t it? I’m Dr. Tofu, they and them.”

“They…? Them…?” She asked, still feeling a bit out of it.

“Yes! So, I heard from Akane you go by two different names, right? Which one would you prefer I use? Perfectly confidential of course, don’t worry, nobody else is in the room,” They said.

“...Ranko.” She replied immediately.

“Right. Can I use that name for you in public as well, or will I have to use the other one?” They continued.

“No, no.. My… My name is Ranma…” He clenched his hand on his forehead as he felt a hot flash spread across his face, before it disappeared just as quickly.

“Noted as well, young Ranko,” they said.

This person seemed nice, her fatigue addled brain thought.

“I was told you lost consciousness at school,” Dr. Tofu explained, “I don’t know the details beyond that, but what I can tell you is that you need plenty of rest. I’ll call a taxi to bring you home, alright? That or you can stay here if you prefer.”

“No… Wanna be home…” Ranko replied.

They nodded. “Right. Please, continue to rest, I’ll tell you when the taxi has arrived.”

She didn’t need anymore permission to fall back asleep.

 

Akane was fidgeting in her seat in the waiting room. Her brain was still rattling over Kuno’s latest declaration when Dr. Tofu entered, allowing her a moment of respite from her own confusion. “Dr. Tofu!” she exclaimed with a smile, standing up. “How is he?”

“Ranma’s fine. They’re just extremely tired is all,” they said. “That must’ve been an eventful morning to drain them like that.”

“Let’s just say he had a bit of a shock,” she replied. There was something about Dr. Tofu that always managed to put her at ease. She didn’t know if that was simply an aura they had, or if it was the way their masculine edge felt different from that of a man. If that wasn’t the cause of her sense of well-being around them, she appreciated it all the same anyway.

They took the seat next to her. “What about you then, Akane? Feeling shaken up?”

“No… No, I’m fine… mostly,” she added after a moment of hesitation. “I’m kind of used to it.”

“I see.” They took on a more serious expression. “I think I’d like to see Ranma again once they’re feeling better, if that’s not too much trouble.”

“Sure!” She said, nodding. “I’ll tell him as much once he’s rested, then!”

They smiled once more. “Good girl, Akane.” She still melted every time they used this nickname from when she was a kid. “Now, you can still catch the last hour of classes, if you so wish…?”

“I think I’ll go do that then. Thank you Dr. Tofu!” She quickly bowed and stepped out, sprinting back to school.

 

“Well hopefully, these two help each other figure themselves out,” they muttered to no one in particular.