Akane tried her best to catch up to the sprinting redhead, while at the same time sorting out her thoughts which were racing just as fast. A quick glance at a clock they passed let her know she had about 90 minutes until the appointment. Right, that appointment. It seemed like such a simple idea at the restaurant, when she snuck off to a payphone while Ranma was taking care of the bill. Fortune looked to be on her side when an opening was available. After all, what better way to have fun with a guy who decided to pretend to be a girl for a day just for you?

The revelation that the girl wasn’t actually pretend should have made this even better. Instead of a little bit of teasing, now it could be a celebration, a present for the girl that has come back into her life. There was only one small complication. The girl she missed for so long now had a way to never be a girl again. In the past, Akane was happy for Ranma whenever such an opportunity came up. Opportunities that never worked out in the end. This time though, from the way Ranma described it, whatever she found had a good chance of succeeding. And this time, Akane would do whatever was necessary to make sure it didn’t happen.

Since she didn’t know what the cure actually was, going after it would probably be a bad idea. If it was more water from the Spring of Drowned Man, then she definitely didn’t want to get anywhere near it. Just telling Ranma not to go after something she wanted for so long wouldn’t work either. That stubborn idiot never would listen to any of the great ideas Akane had. 

This left the youngest Tendo with one option left. It certainly would not be an easy thing to do, but she was determined to see it through to the end. The day may have started with Ranma wanting to get Akane out of her funk, and the redhead once again proved victorious in her task, but now Akane had her own mission to complete. Perhaps the most important and most difficult challenge of her life.

Operation Get Ranma To Like Being A Girl.

---

Ranma couldn’t believe how well the day had been going. Sure, there were a couple of stumbles at the start, but when had anything in her life gone smoothly? She almost felt like malleting herself for not asking for Kasumi’s advice earlier, although part of her wondered if she would have been able to do that before her revelation. She let out a small sigh. Just one more thing that she can do and he can’t.

The words her new older sister offered were simple, but their meaning was immense. It gave Ranma the same feeling as when she figured out a new technique before or even during a battle against one of her opponents. She had spent most of her life training as a martial artist, and one of the more important aspects of her training was learning how to read one’s opponent and adjust accordingly. During battle, she had few equals in this aspect. Outside of battle however…

In hindsight, it seemed so obvious. This was a battle as well, just a different kind. Her goal was Akane’s happiness. Her opponent was Akane’s emotions. Instead of kicks and punches, it would be fought with words and feelings. And like the battles before, this was one that Ranma Saotome would not lose.

The redhead gave a big grin as she landed in front of the game center and couldn’t help herself from whistling nonchalantly as a slightly annoyed brunette caught up half a minute later. 

“You know, if you told me this morning we were going to do a 1600 meter race, I would have worn better shoes!”

Ranma looked down at the open toed sandals Akane was sporting. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best idea. She doesn’t look too angry at least. Probably go with a complement. “Those shoes look really nice on you though.”

Akane seemed to light up at this. “You really think so?”

Good, that was the right move. Try another. “Oh yeah. Don’t worry. I’m sure if you were wearing shoes like mine, you woulda got me easy.”

Akane let out a snort and crossed her arms. “Oh please, like I had any hope against your stupid speed. Especially when you’re in your girl form.”

Oops, guess that was a bit too much. Maybe try-

“Oh! Not that it’s a bad thing! You should be happy about that extra speed you get when you’re a girl. I bet it gives you a real advantage in a fight. It would be a shame to give that up.”

“I...what?”

“Uh, what I mean is that you should definitely appreciate everything you have. Anyway, we should get inside, girlfriend. Still got a lot to do today after all. You know. The two of us. Two girls. Having a fun time together. Right?”

“Um, yeah. Really enjoying ourselves.”

“Exactly! Okay, let’s go, girlfriend!”

Well...at least she’s happy right now. I guess?

---

Looking around the expansive game center, Ranma was struck with the sensation of being completely out of her element. Even with the couple of times she decided to check a place like this out, she could never fully comprehend the whole arcade game thing. She considered just leaving and going right to the shopping part of their trip, but was stopped by a strange feeling of both elation and dread hitting the pit of her stomach. 

“So girlfriend, which game do we go to first?”

Ranma looked at the overly eager expression on Akane’s face. “Well, why don’t ya go and find a game you like. I can watch or maybe just look around a bit.”

“Oh, no way, girlfriend. We’re both here to have a good time, and that includes you too. Now let’s go.” Akane then grabbed the redhead’s hand and marched in.

While being dragged along, Ranma wondered about the apprehension she felt moments ago. Why would the thought of shopping with Akane bother her like this? Her mom wasn’t even here, and besides, she now knew all about her and her curse anyway. Sure, bumping into hot water while trying something on might be a bit embarrassing, but now at least she no longer had to worry about losing her head over it. So why am I nervous? Is it just because I’ve never done this with just me and Akane? Wait, I haven’t, right?

Before Ranma could deal with the sudden nagging feeling in the back of her mind, she found herself in front of an arcade cabinet.

“Okay girlfriend, this should be a good one. We can play together on the same side and they use martial arts in it. Well, sort of anyway.”

Ranma spent a few moments studying the demo that was playing on the screen. “Okay, so they all use weapons in this, right? Let’s see. I got the best experience with the bo staff. Then again, with how much Kuno attacks me, I could probably come up with some cool things to do with katanas. What do you think?”

Akane rolled her eyes. “It’s giant turtles fighting robots. Just pick one. I’m going for the one in the red mask.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Oh? Mad that I took your color?”

“No, it’s just that sai are kinda tricky to use. Not sure if you’re ready to handle something like that yet.”

“Ranma, just pick a turtle already.”

Admittedly, the game started to be fun once Ranma stopped trying to figure out what button combinations would let her use advanced bojutsu techniques. Even with the number of coins she kept having to pump in, she found herself having a really good time and enjoyed teaming up with Akane to take down some of the more annoying enemies. Eventually, she was able to get into a rhythm, which allowed her to also focus on what was bothering her.

It doesn’t make sense. The only time I’ve gone clothes shopping with anyone was when Mom took me along when she still thought I was ‘Ranko Tendo’. I haven’t done that with just Akane and definitely not when I was a girl. So why do I keep getting this feeling that we’ve done it before? Unless...oh no. Please don’t tell me it’s something I forgot about!

Gaps in her memories was something that Ranma found to be very concerning. The decade-long training trip was mostly a blur with many things outside of martial arts being rather hazy. A lot of this was due to her pops constantly drilling into him at the time how anything outside the art wasn’t worth thinking about. Unfortunately, this caused several problems for her later on, especially with the few people he was able to make connections with back then.

The first time occurred not long after arriving in Nerima when Ranma’s friend from middle school, Ryoga Hibiki, showed up looking for him, seeking vengeance. Admittedly, their time at the all-boys school (since it was before Jusenkyo and Ranma was obviously a boy 100% of the time back then) was a little rough, especially during lunch time which ended up becoming a daily battle over the last piece of specialty bread. A battle that he always won, beating out Ryoga each time. And each time Ryoga ended up very angry at him.

It wasn’t all bad though. They were at least able to remain civil with each other when Ranma would bring the extremely direction challenged boy to and from school. In fact, Ryoga ended up acting surprisingly subdued whenever she needed to lead him along by the hand. Maybe it was embarrassment knowing how lost he would get if she wasn’t there to help him.

Still, the slights of the bread feud needed to be addressed. It was right before Ranma was to leave for China with his father that Ryoga officially challenged him. The duel was to take place in a vacant lot about 500 meters from each of their houses. It took the lost boy four days to find it. Unfortunately, Ranma was only able to wait there for three before his pops finally lost patience and dragged him away. 

He eventually forgot about his friend. After all there was training to do and as he was constantly told, when training there’s no time to worry about anything else. Maybe, though, if he didn’t forget about him, things could have been different. Maybe he would have noticed Ryoga trying to find them after missing the duel. Maybe he would have noticed the lost boy following them all the way to China. Maybe she would have actually noticed him standing there on the cliff above Jusenkyo while chasing after her idiot panda of a father. Maybe if she noticed him, she would not have accidentally knocked him off the cliff and he would have not fallen into the Spring of Drowned Piglet. Maybe it would have been possible for them to remain friends instead of whatever it is they are now.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only time Ranma had to deal with a former friend coming back to seek revenge. The next time, it ended up being the first friend she ever made, back when she was six. During the early days of the training trip, he and his pops met a traveling okonomiyaki chef and his child, Ukyo, and they all spent several weeks together. Ranma quite enjoyed hanging out with another boy his age and he ended up playing with the young chef in training each day. Of course for Ranma, playing meant getting into a martial arts battle with the other boy and ending up with free food as the victor each time. Ukyo didn’t seem to mind though, as a fresh okonomiyaki with a specialized message on it was always ready for their fights. 

It wasn’t just about daily battles for food though. She and the young chef were able to also spend time just being kids, having fun adventures and strange encounters together. It couldn’t last forever, though, and Ranma and his pops had to continue on their journey. Eventually, he completely forgot about his old friend until years later when Ukyo showed up at his high school. Unfortunately, the reunion took a dark turn as the boy attacked him. Through this conflict, several things came to light. 

First, came the revelation that Ukyo was originally meant to come with them. Instead, that ended with Genma running off with their food cart and the young chef trying and failing to chase after them. Then came the big reveal. It turned out that Ranma’s childhood friend was a girl the whole time. In fact, the promise by his pops to bring Ukyo along was the result of another arranged marriage with the food cart as a dowry payment. None of which Ranma was aware of at the time.

Ranma tried to defuse the situation before it got out of hand, but little things he forgot kept coming up at the worst times. Like when his father asked a six year old Ranma if he liked Ukyo or okonomiyaki more. He eventually was able to sort things out. Unfortunately, it ended up with Ukyo being another fiancée chasing after him. Maybe if Ranma didn’t just forget about her old friend. Maybe if she tried seeking her friend out beforehand. Maybe if she was able to remember events before they came back to bite her, then maybe she could just have her old friend Ucchan, instead of another girl trying to gain his affections.

So Ranma made a point to try and remember what happened, so she could avoid any misunderstandings in the future. This brought a new issue though. Thanks to a certain Chinese Amazon’s willingness to use love potions, love items, or whatever else magic she could get her hands on in order to win her ‘Beloved’, the martial artist would end up with periods of time in which she could not recall anything. Tracking down all the times she couldn’t remember what she did versus just being knocked unconscious for a while took a bit of doing, but she was rather certain now she figured them all out as well as everything that happened during these gaps (although the incident with Ryoga and a magic fishing pole of love was one she was very glad she forgot).

If that was the case, then why was she getting this feeling about something that couldn’t have happened before? Did it though? Did something happen that was so bad they wouldn’t tell me about it? Oh crap, what if I accidentally do it again? I have to make sure I avoid whatever it was. How though? If I ask Akane, it might ruin her day. But if I don’t ask and mess up again, it would ruin her day anyway. What should I do?!

Ranma let out a yell of frustration, which managed to coincide with the image of her turtle being knocked out once again. “Not having fun?” came the voice to her right. She looked over to Akane, trying to determine what the correct response would be. 

“It’s fine. As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters.”

“Hey, you having fun is important too, you know! In fact, I’d say it’s just as important that you really enjoy yourself too, girl.”

Ranma paused for a moment at the strange inflection, but quickly shook it off. “Yeah, I suppose.”

“Great! I was getting tired of hearing ‘shell shock’ over and over anyway. Come on, I guarantee you’ll have fun with this, girlfriend!”

Ranma didn’t say anything as she let herself once again be led by the hand. I bet I’m worried over nothing. We’ll have a nice shopping trip together and I can ask her about it later tonight, after I talk to her about...that. No, it will be fine! I’ll have Big Sis to help me and it will all turn out great! Huh, Akane’s hand actually feels kind of soft. You’d think with all the brick smashing she does, it would be more rough, but it actually feels really nice...dammit Saotome, don’t be a pervert! Besides, you’re a girl. There’s nothing wrong with two girls holding hands. 

“Here we go, girlfriend. This one’s a bit more up your alley.”

Ranma looked at the row of basketball hoops in front of her. “Oh, this one.”

“Oh come on! You love carnival games, and this is basically like those.”

“Well, to be honest, half the fun of the carnival is figuring out how the games are rigged and still winning anyway, and the other half is the food. They don’t even have any food stalls here.”

“Oh? You mean you don’t know you can trade in tickets for snacks?”

“Wait, really?” Ranma asked with a sudden glean in her eye.

“Of course. The better we do at the game, the more tickets we get, the more snacks we’ll have. Doesn’t that sound like a fun thing to do, girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a little interesting,” the redhead responded while completely failing to hide her excitement.

“Perfect. I know a good trick so I’ll go first. You have to be fast with this, so if you do bank shots the ball will come back faster. You need to have a gentle touch, though, so you don’t break anything. Okay, here I go!”

BANG

BANG

BANG

BANG

Ranma watched on as the balls slammed against the backboard, each one threatening to crack the entire thing in two. By some miracle, some of the balls managed to lose just enough momentum to fall into the basket and with the sheer number Akane was throwing, she managed to rack up a halfway decent score. 

“Okay, 34. That’s a pretty good start,” Akane said while slightly out of breath.

Ranma chose not to comment on that and instead collected the four tickets dispensed from the machine. “So, how much can we get with this?”

“Would you be interested in some assistance, ladies?”

The two girls turned towards the new voice as a boy their age walked up to them. He was quite tall, his light brown hair was expertly combed, and his manner just exuded ‘pretty boy’. The most important thing about him, though, was the large amount of tickets in his hand.

Ranma immediately went into scamming for free food mode and gave her best doe-eyed look. “Oh wow! That sure is a lot of tickets,” she said in her best cutesy voice. “Maybe--”

Her danger sense spiked and she glanced over to see Akane’s expression. Oh crap! Minefield! Minefield!  

Before she could do anything else, the boy went up and put his arm around her shoulder. “Yes, enough to get something nice for a pretty girl like you.”

Ranma started to get Mikado Sanzenin vibes from the guy. Crap! Double minefield! Double minefield! Wait, how would that work? Wouldn’t the mines just blow each other up?

“So, how about I buy you a stuffed animal and we can get to know each other better?”

Ugh, what a creep. I should just deck the guy. I could probably get something really yummy with those tickets though. Why couldn’t he be a martial artist or something? Then I could really teach him a lesson. Wait. If it worked with Akane, maybe…

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ranma carefully disengaged from the boy while dropping most of the cutesy act, leaving just enough left. “I bet I could get that many tickets myself.”

“Oh really? So you’re an expert then?”

“Actually, I’ve never played this game before, but how hard can it be, right?” She then picked up one of the leftover balls and gave what looked to be an unskilled throw. The ball hit hard off the back of the rim and bounced around a few times before barely managing to fall in. “See? I’m a natural!” Come on, go for the feint…

“Well in that case, why don’t we have a little contest? Whoever gets the higher score is the winner. I’ll even give you a handicap if you want. If I win, you agree to go on a date with me.

“Sounds fun,” Ranma cheerfully replied. “But I don’t think a handicap would be fair since if I win, I’ll get all your tickets. Does that sound okay to you Akane?”

Akane finally snapped out of her shock. “Um, yeah I guess. If that’s what you want to do.”

The boy gave a grin that he probably thought was alluring, but just came off as lecherous. “Don’t worry, my dear. I wouldn’t leave someone as lovely as you behind. You can join us as well.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Akane deadpanned.

“Oh yes, this will be quite fun,” Ranma stated while performing an imitation of Konatsu, which seemed like the appropriate way to go at the moment. “Why don’t you go first and show me your skills?”

“Okay then, get ready to be blown away, little lady.”

Two and a half minutes later, a flabbergasted brown haired boy was left staring at a scoreboard while a grinning redhead and her brunette companion walked away carrying a bundle of tickets. “Thanks for the good time,” the redhead called back. “I think I’ll go buy my girl friend something nice.”

As they continued to leave that section of the arcade, Ranma let out a small giggle and looked over to Akane, trying to gauge her reaction. At the moment, the Tendo girl looked mostly stunned.

Finally, Akane spoke up. “Ranma, what was that?”

“Whaddya mean? It was a challenge and I won. Simple as that.”

“Yes, but the way you did it seemed kind of, well, different.”

“Yeah, I guess when I want to get something from a guy I normally just go with the cutesy fake flirting thing.” Ranma paused for a moment as she saw Akane’s twitching eyebrow. “Um, but then I thought I shouldn’t be doing that for a creep like him. I figured if I’m going to keep being a girl like this, I should try a different way of handling guys like him.” Ranma then froze as the realization of what she just said hit her. “Wait, no! What I meant to say was...um…”

Akane turned to face Ranma directly. “Do you really mean that?” she quietly asked. “You want to keep being a girl?”

Dammit! I’m not ready to have this conversation yet. Kasumi help! After a few seconds of struggling for the right words, Ranma was finally about to let out a single one. “Yes.”

For the second time in one day, Ranma found herself in the arms of her fiancée (Don’t think of that right now! Right now she’s your girlfriend. I mean, girl friend. Friend who is a girl. Yeah, that’s it.) and she could just barely make out the other girl whispering, “I did it. It worked.”

“Akane?”

“Ohmygosh!” The Tendo girl suddenly disengaged with a worried look on her face. “What time is it?” Akane quickly reached out and grabbed the wrist of a nearby boy and checked his watch. “Oh crap!” Ranma’s hand was grabbed once again as Akane started to rush off. “We have to hurry or we’ll be late!”

“Hold up a second Akane,” Ranma cried as she was being dragged off. “Late for what? Where are we going? Wait, Akane! What about the tickets?!”