Ranma was walking forward with purpose, navigating himself in pure darkness. The hallways of the Tendo house came into light, he continued his march on solid wood until he came to a door. But, opening it, he stumbled on someone he was surprised to see here. 

“Huh?” he muttered, before raising his voice. “Oi Tate, the heck ya doin’ in here?”

“Saotome…” Tatewaki replied, turning his head, “I support you, funky little lesbian.”

He grimaced. “Hey, what gives!? I’m a guy!” The floor slipped from under his feet and he fell to the bathroom below with a scream, landing in the bathtub.

Pulling himself out of the water, he came face to face with Akane, completely in the nude, sharing the same bath as him. He jumped back in surprise, causing her but a giggle. “It’s okay Ranma, we’re both girls.”

His feet slipped against the wet ceramic and he sank deep into the water. By the time he came back out for air, the water was cold and his skin prickled. He coughed and sputtered salty water out of his lungs, crashing on a sandy beach. Genma looked down at him, while a second figure further in the distance walked away. “You have disappointed me, boy. Look at yourself. You’ll never be a man amongst men. Never again.”

“Pops, just give me another chance!” Ranma cried out, hiding his feminine chest behind his arm. “I can still- I can still be…”

A giant wave came to pull him down to the depths of the sea, dragging him away under the scorn of his father. Slowly, he sank and hit rock-bottom.

All was silent. He was alone.

His back pressed against something warm.

He turned his head and met with his reflection. She looked as surprised as him. He took a step away and noticed she had a fish tail in guise of legs.

“Hello...” she said after another moment of silence. ”I’m Ranko. Who are you?”

“I’m Ranma…” he replied. “What are ya doin’ here?”

“I’m dreaming!” she answered with a smile. “What about you?”

“Eh…” He sat back down next to her. “S’been more of a nightmare so far for me...”

She grabbed his hand and held on it tight to try to comfort him. “I’m sure you’ll be okay, Ranma. I’m sure you will.”

“Thank… Thank ya I guess…” He glanced at her mermaid tail, intrigued.

She followed his gaze before looking back at him. “Do you want to learn how to grow yours?”

His heart rate skyrocketed at the mere idea of contemplating the offer.

Ranma suddenly jerked out of his blanket with a scream. His throat felt as if blocked for a second, until he managed to breathe again. A dream?

He swiped his forehead with his arm and noticed he was soaked in his own sweat.

 

“Morning!” Akane said, passing by Ranma in the stairs. She saw he had his towel and soap with him. “Taking a bath early today?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he replied before speeding up and heading for the laundry room.

“Oh! Dr. Tofu wants to see you today, by the way!” She shouted before he was too far to hear. She didn’t receive any acknowledgement of the message, but thought she could just tell him again if needed. She headed to the living room to eat her breakfast, she had to prepare herself for school quickly and she still hadn’t got her morning jog in.

She was only mildly surprised when a panda came out of the laundry room. He did seem like the kind to not know you shouldn’t bug people that are already in a foul mood.

 

The first half of the trip to school happened in uneasy silence. Akane preferred to avoid triggering Ranma’s ire, while the boy had no intention of explaining his sourness. It wasn’t until they got to the fenced river that Ranma found himself musing. “Want me to help ya dispatch ‘em?”

Akane was intrigued for a second before she realized what he was talking about. “The boys at school? No way. That’s my fight, stay out of it.”

He slipped his hands in his pockets. “Jeez. Don’t complain if you’re late then.”

 

Akane sprinted forward as they arrived at the gate and ran into the brawl waiting for her. A few hits were all it took to dispatch a good number of opponents, but they still were much too many to take down in a timely manner. Ranma jumped on the school wall to observe the fight from a vantage point.

By the time Akane was about halfway through the school front yard, she slammed the marathon club president onto the ground, then leaped above him, continuing her path towards the entrance doors. The sumo leader ran towards her while pushing his hands forwards, shouting about his ‘body slams of love’, Akane only had to side-step and trip up his foot to make the behemoth fall flat on his face.

Ranma walked up to the center of the yard, finding only a desolation of defeated boys. Though, of course, that still left one in particular that had yet to show up… Akane barely had time to catch her breath before his signature kendo sword planted itself at her feet.

“Should you find a wise critic to point out your faults, follow him as you would a guide to hidden treasure.” Tatewaki solemnly walked up to Akane, his arms crossed. “I have made a mistake yesterday in making an assumption about the red haired lesbian’s sexuality. Therefore I can only offer to ask: Oh, Akane, thief of the Blue Thunder of Furinkan’s heart, I have not committed the same mistake about you, have I?”

Akane gave him the gentlest of smiles before grabbing him by the head and swinging him into the ground until he was about forehead deep in broken cement. She walked into the school without saying a word.

“I see,” An upside-down Tatewaki said, a thoughtful expression on his face, “Akane is still so willing to fight me. Clearly this is her way of saying the date deal is still on, and it wouldn’t be if she weren’t interested in me.”

Ranma jumped next to his head, crouching down. “Ya do know y’ain’t ever given her a chance to refuse before, right?”

“Nonsense. She would just have not to fight any of us if she was not okay with the terms of the deal. Clearly my logic still stands.” Ranma rolled his eyes and started walking away, but Tatewaki called him out before he went too far. “Ranma.”

“Hmm?”

“Another thing I realized last evening. If your sister Ranko is a lover of the fairer sex, then she is clearly my rival for Akane’s affection. Tell her I shall fight her next time I see her.”

Ranma stomped on Tatewaki’s head, planting him further into the ground.

 

Akane and Ranma didn’t exchange a word for the rest of the school hours. Once they reconvened at the end of today’s classes, they headed for Dr. Tofu’s clinic in tense silence.

Ranma opened the door to the exam room and glanced around, with Akane standing not too far behind him. He vaguely had a memory of being here last afternoon, though he couldn’t remember a word of what had been said, nor why he had been brought here in the first place. He did recall the bed though, as well as the skeleton whose hand was on his shoulder right now.

He jumped onto the door with a yelp.

“Oh, excuse me! I didn’t think this would surprise you this hard,” Dr. Tofu stated, making the skeleton wave and bow. “This is Betty, she’s pleased to meet you. She has a nice complexion, don’t you think?”

Calming down, Ranma removed himself from the door. He had a feeling this doctor was someone special, but he didn’t exactly get the time to ask as Akane butted in.

“Dr. Tofu!” She exclaimed happily and bowed. “Good afternoon!”

“Likewise,” they replied. “No new injuries on your end?”

“No, doctor!” She smiled, fidgeting in place.

Ranma observed the scene for a second, starting to have a hunch of what was happening here. He kept his mouth shut, but couldn’t help but let a smile slip out.

“Well then, would you mind waiting for a bit? I need to talk to Ranma in private.”

“Hmm!” She went to sit down on one of the chairs, then took out some homework from her bag to occupy herself with.

Dr. Tofu closed the door, then pulled out a chair for Ranma to sit on.

 

“So, Ranko,” they started, “in case I need to introduce myself again, I’m Dr. Tofu, they and them, and I’ll be your GP for the duration of your stay at the Tendos.” They gave a kindly smile. “I was told from Soun you have a condition, but under the basis of medical privacy I refused to hear the details from anyone but you.”

Ranma raised an eyebrow. “‘Aight I guess? Nice to meetcha. My name ain’t Ranko though, that’s just what—…” He probably didn’t need to tell them he’d tried to use the name to lie about his gender to the Tendos. “I mean, point is my name’s Ranma.”

Dr. Tofu’s smile cracked for a second before coming back. They nodded. “I see. My apologies then, Ranma.”

He shrugged. “S’fine.”

“As for your medical situation, do you wish to disclose it, or…?”

“Well, for starters it ain’t exactly medical…” He scratched the back of his head, avoiding the doctor’s stare. He exhaled, not really finding any reason to hide it - especially if Dr. Tofu was going to keep their word about it staying private. “I kinda got cursed back when we were in China… Would be easier to just demonstrate. D’ya have any water nearby? I’ll need both hot and cold.”

The doctor excused themself, and came back a minute later with a glass of each. “I hope tap water will be warm enough?”

“If it’s good enough for a bath it’s good enough to work, aye.” He tipped his finger in the hot water. That should definitely do it. “‘Aight then, here goes.” He lifted the cold water glass over his head and poured it slowly on top of his hair, making sure to wet his clothes as little as possible. His skin prickled, and in his place stood his girl half.

Dr. Tofu’s eyes went wide.

Ranma poured the other glass, turning back to normal.

They bit their lip, looking for the right words. “Where did you get this ‘curse’, as you call it?”

He lifted his feet onto his chair, sitting cross-legged. “Jusenkyo, it’s called. Plenty a’ cursed springs that do all kinda stuff with cold water.”

Dr. Tofu nodded. “I’ll look into this. Thank you, Ranma.” They removed their glasses and wiped them with the bottom of their shirt, then put them back on. “That does help me paint a more complete picture. In my professional opinion, you’re in need of a therapist. You seem to be under a lot of mental stress, and that would explain why you collapsed yesterday. Unfortunately, I specialize more in the wounds of the body than the ones of the heart. Other than that, you’re free to go.”

“A therapist, eh… Dunno where I’ll find that.” Ranma mused. He leaped out of his chair and headed for the door. “See ya, doctor!”

“Until next time, Ranma— Oh, wait, no, one more thing.” Ranma stopped, his hand on the handle. “Do try to be kind to yourself, alright? No matter who that you ends up being.”

The young man rolled his eyes, opened the door and walked away. “Man, what is it with adults n’ cryptic advice…”

 

The two teens resumed their trip home. Akane had noticed of course that Ranma seemed much less tense, but that didn’t mean she knew what exactly was on the boy’s mind.

“Say, Tofu’s a martial artist, ain’t they?” Ranma asked. That was definitely not what she had expected.

“Hmm? How could you tell?” Akane said.

“I’m just thinkin’, with the way they snuck up on me…” He hit his fist into his palm. “Takes some skill to completely erase your presence like that.”

“Like you guessed, they’re a pretty strong martial artist,” Akane said with a nod, her thoughts bringing her back to the simpler times of her childhood. “When I was a kid, I used to constantly hurt myself while learning, and they were the one that took care of me.”

Ranma observed her calm expression for a moment, noticing the same kind of glow he had seen on her back at the clinic. “Heh. So I guess I’d misread gratitude as a crush, eh?”

She looked at the boy in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ranma stuck out his tongue playfully.

She rolled her eyes and spoke up, not wanting the misunderstanding to get any worse.  “Okay, yeah, they’re someone I feel comfortable around despite their masculinity. So what? It’s not like they’re a man.”

Ranma’s gaze shot up to the sky in thought. “...Wait, ‘that what the ‘they them’ thing meant?”

Akane blinked a few times. “Ranma… How dense are you, exactly?”

“And what’s THAT supposed to mean!?”

She sped up her pace a bit. “Honestly it’s sometimes hard to determine who’s worse between you and Kuno-senpai.”

Ranma crossed his arms and walked right back next to Akane. “Well ya don’t hear me criticize ya, ya uncute tomboy! Apply your own advice to yourself first!”

Akane’s expression instantly soured.

 

“Well I must say I didn’t expect you two to be back so soon,” Dr. Tofu said, looking over a pitifully beat up Ranma laid down on a bed of their clinic, “but this is dreadful. So many bruises, the severe dislocation of the joints! How did this happen, exactly?”

Akane looked down at her feet. Ranma tried to stir himself back straight to no avail.

Dr. Tofu looked at Akane for a moment with a serious expression on their face.

“Well, he… he said I was a… You know.”

“Ah. That word?”

Akane nodded meekly.

They slapped their thigh and smiled. “Ah, I knew it! These injuries have your signature all over them!” They lifted Ranma onto his legs and held him by the arm. “Look at the way this joint’s twisted all backward. That’s Akane’s touch, no doubt about it!” They pushed Ranma’s shoulder away while pulling at their arm, causing a pained scream from the boy. They flipped him right on his belly and pulled at his back, then cracked his neck to the side. ”Reminds me of when you were a kid, and you brought me one new patient per week in such a state, hahaha!“ They flipped him again, pulled on the back of his legs one at a time, sat him down and lifted his shoulders before dropping him back down. 

“STOP, THAT HURTS!!” Ranma shouted.

“Hmm? Odd. Where does it still hurt?”

Ranma paused and inspected himself, touching over all the places Akane had kicked him. “...Huh. Nevermind.”

 

The first streetlights started turning on by the time they were done with this second, impromptu visit to the clinic.

“Bye bye!” Akane said as she headed through the door.

“Have a nice night!” Dr. Tofu replied. “Oh, Ranma, may I speak with you for a second more?” They said, lowering their voice.

“Hmm?” Ranma stopped next to the doctor, hands in his pockets. what else were they planning to tell him?

“Putting aside your own affairs for a second, and not to excuse her outburst… Could you try being nicer to Akane? I know you’re at a time of your life where lashing out is easy to do, but she’s probably not the source of your problems,” they said.

He rolled his shoulders, speaking out his mind. “‘S’not like I enjoy fightin’ with her… She just gets mad over nothin’ all the time.”

They thought for a second, searching for the right words. “She has her own emotional baggage to carry around. Feelings she spoke to me about when she was much younger and has forgotten telling anybody since.”

He turned his head towards the doctor, intrigued. “‘That so?”

“Maybe you two should try to help each other wade through your personal issues rather than let them constantly clash, hmm? You’ll be surprised by how much you have in common.” They finished with a firm push against Ranma’s back. “Trust me, you’ll understand soon enough.”

 

“What were you two talking about?” Akane asked to avoid another silent walk. In the back of her mind, she feared what Dr. Tofu could’ve gossiped about her, but she knew them better than that.

“Meh, nothin’.” Ranma had his hands placed behind his head, looking up at the electric lines. “Just told me to be careful with ya, what with your anger issues n’ all.”

She didn’t like hearing it be described as issues. They were just temporary bad moods, not… Not something she had to consciously swerve herself away from, right?

 

Ranma interpreted her brooding as another bout of anger about to explode. He sidestepped and prepared his fighting stance with a smile. Not that he would hit her obviously, being a man amongst men, he only planned to parry her blows.

“Is that so?” Akane calmly asked, walking away without a glance.

He paused, then ran up to her. She turned her head to prevent him from looking at her face. “Maaan, your feelins’ are so easy to bruise.”

“Stop it, you jerk.” She finally looked him in the face. “Why now of all times are you trying to pick a fight? Almost makes me wish you were your other side right now, I haven't seen it all day.”

“What, had too much of lil’ old me?”

Akane swung her school bag in his direction, he quickly dodged with a hop. “What’s your problem!?”

 

Dr. Tofu was looking up at their clock, counting down the seconds to the full minute. “3… 2… 1… 0.”

 

Ranma suddenly felt his legs give under him, refusing to listen to his orders.

“What’s wrong?” Akane asked.

“My legs… I can't move them...” He was struck by a sudden realisation. Dr. Tofu’s slap on his back. They had done this on purpose.

“Ah well.” Akane crouched and offered her back. “Come here, we have to head home before Kasumi worries. I’ll piggyback you since you can’t walk.”

“Are ya dumb!? I’m a man amongst men, ya think I’m gonna do something embarrassing like that!? What if somebody sees us, what if--” His frantic worrying stopped dead in its tracks as Akane sprayed him with cold water using a garden hose from the nearest house’s front yard.

“Is her preciousness more comfortable if we’re both girls?”

 

Akane walked him in silence, while he gently rocked against her back. He tried to catch a glance at her face, while mulling over what Dr. Tofu had told him. He wondered what was her secret she had forgotten about, and what exactly they had in common. “I’ll understand soon enough, huh?”  He asked himself. “Not yet I don’t…”

He pressed his head against her back and let his mind wander.

 

Akane felt Ranma gently stir against herself. She readjusted the way she was holding his legs and resumed her walk forward.

“Akane…” He said with a small, timid voice that reminded her of his kindlier side for some reason.

“Hmm?”

“Do you ever feel like you are not alone in your head?”

She didn’t know what to respond to that.