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Blessed Curse

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.

Chapter 7

When Ranma and Mousse returned to the Tendo household Akane was waiting for them in the hallway, freshly bathed after her workout wearing her PJ’s for the night and a towel draped over her shoulders.

“So how did the fight go? Why didn’t you wait for me? How badly beat up is Kuno and please tell me we won’t see him tomorrow,” Akane said the last part in a pleading tone.

“It wasn’t a challenge,” Ranma said annoyed. “He just wanted to meet with me so he could give me flowers and tell me that he’s in love with me.”

“Wh-what?” Akane said brown eyes blinking in surprise. “He did all that to ask you on a date?”

“Not a date, just proclaimed to ‘love me’,” Ranma said then huffed as she smacked Mousse in the chest. “Then this idiot opened his big mouth and mentioned one of the biggest rules in the village.”

“I apologized for that,” Mousse said.

“Rules?” Akane asked. She vaguely remembered Ranma saying something about the different rules in the village that adopted her but the only one she paid attention to was the one that granted Ranma a new family and the chance to be in her real body. The three teens wandered into the main room of the house and sat down around the table.

“Good, you’re just in time for dinner,” Kasumi said as she brought out the last of the food. “Nabiki!” She called up the stairs for the middle sister.

“Who’s the cutie?” Nabiki asked as she stepped off the last step and saw Mousse at the table.

“This is my buddy Mousse,” Ranma said, biting the inside of her cheek to stifle a laugh as Mousse gave a flustered sound at being called a ‘cutie’.

“So you’re Mousse huh?” Nabiki said as she quickly slipped in to sit next to the Chinese youth. Kasumi chuckled softly to herself and shook her head as she watched her younger sister then left to fetch their father from the dojo.

“Erm, yes?” Mousse said in a confused tone.

“Hmm, I heard a bit about you,” Nabiki said as she leaned in close to the other teen. Mousse leaned back slightly not sure what to think about the sudden attention he was getting. He didn’t usually get attention from girls, the ones in his village didn’t bother giving him the time of day not that he would notice since he was stuck on Shampoo who saw him as a friend at best and a punching bag at worse. Ranma was only seen as a friend and that suited the red-headed girl just fine. “I have all sorts of questions.”

“Umm, what sort of questions?” Mouse asked.

“Mostly about your village but I’m sure we could talk about you,” Nabiki said with a grin then turned so she was facing Ranma and Akane who were both fighting not to giggle at the confounded look on Mousse’s face. “Ranma, you didn’t tell me your friend was cute.” Mousse sputtered at being called cute by this strange girl. Nabiki grinned again to herself, she hadn’t know what to expect when Ranma talked about her friends from the Amazon like village in China but Mousse being a good looking guy was a pleasant surprise. The thick glasses were a bit of a turn off but not enough to take away from the rest of Mousse’s looks. ‘Hmm, I wonder if he’s ever considered contacts or surgery,’ Nabiki mused to herself. Even if nothing came from it, she could already see herself having fun teasing the other teen.

Ranma snickered to herself as Mousse continued to look confused. The older teen was so fixated on Shampoo that he had a habit of not really noticing anyone else that was female. The short time she had lived in the village Ranma had heard plenty of girls talk about Mousse. While there were plenty who thought Mousse was just a silly male, quite a few bemoaned the fact Mousse was so stuck on Shampoo. Mousse never noticed the admiring looks he received from time to time, those girls felt that anyone would be lucky to have that level of loyalty directed at them.

‘This has got to be the first time anyone has really flirted with Mousse,’ Ranma thought to herself. ‘He certainly doesn’t know what to make of it.’

Akane was giggling too, when Nabiki and her wicked tongue were focused on someone else it was quite fun to watch her older sister work. She just hoped Nabiki didn’t go too far with Mousse, he seemed to be one of the few decent boys she had met and would hate to see a friend of Ranma’s get hurt.

At that time Kasumi returned to the room followed by Soun to start dinner. Soun questioned Mousse on who he was and why he was there, satisfied when Mousse said he was a friend of Ranma’s. He did worry as he watched Nabiki flirt and tease the youth, he really wished Nabiki would cut that stuff out. Be more reserved like his oldest daughter.

‘Ah, I guess that’s the times these days,’ he thought sadly. ‘Children grow up much too fast now a days.’

Later that evening as Mousse headed back to Tofu’s clinic he thought back on the evening, he had no idea what to make of that Nabiki girl. He did wish that Shampoo paid the same sort of attention to him sometimes.

******

Ranma yawned as she headed down the stairs toward the Dojo for her morning workout. There was no rush today since there was no school. She had to fight down an excited squeal as she remembered that Kasumi was taking her and Akane shopping for some clothing for her girl form. Other than some clothing she had back at Joketsuzoku Ranma didn’t own anything but male clothing. Genma wouldn’t even entertain the idea of his child owning a scrap of clothing that belonged on a girl. Part of Ranma was a bit nervous, Sayuri and Yuka would be joining them on their shopping trip and Ranma had agreed to let the two girls in on her secret.

Ranma thought Sayuri and Yuka were pretty nice but she had no idea how the girls would react to her gender bending curse or that she was transgender and considered her female form to be her real one. Akane seemed to think her two friends would be okay with it and would help keep Ranma’s secret out of the school gossip. She just hoped Akane was right about that.

Half an hour later Ranma reentered the house feeling much more awake and calm. Her morning workouts always had that effect on her.

“Ranma-chan, this was delivered this morning for you,” Kasumi said as she handed an envelope to Ranma.

“What is it, another ‘challenge’ from Kuno?” Akane asked as she passed Ranma in the hallway. She was already dressed for the day and was going out to meet Yuka and Sayuri to bring them to the dojo.

“No it’s from Ryoga,” Ranma said as she read. “He wants to fight this afternoon.”

“Nooo, that’ll cut into our shopping trip,” Akane groaned. Ranma smirked slightly as she folded the note back up.

“Don’t worry Akane-chan, when he says this afternoon it’ll be a week before he shows up,” Ranma assured her. “With his sense of direction he’ll be lost that whole time.

****

A few streets over a black and yellow fox sneezed, feeling as if someone was talking about him.

****

“If you’re sure,” Akane said.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Ranma said as she headed for the furo. “I just hope the idiot will listen to me long enough to try and patch things up,” She added under her breath.

When Ranma emerged from the bath in her male body once again Akane had already returned with Yuka and Sayuri.

“Hi Ranma!” Yuka greeted happily.

“Akane said you’re coming with us shopping today right?” Sayuri asked. When Ranma nodded she squealed happily. “I’ve always wanted to go shopping with a gay guy, I heard they have the best fashion sense.”

“Ah… yeah…” Ranma sweat dropped and rubbed the back of her neck. “Hey Akane, where’s your dad at?”

“Kasumi convinced him to go out for the day since she isn’t going to be here to make lunch,” Akane said as she walked out of the kitchen with a pitcher of cold water and a kettle of hot water.

“Err what’s with the water Akane-chan?” Yuka asked when she saw them. Ranma saw the items and sighed, nodding her head to her friend.

“Let’s do this outside so Kasumi won’t be pissed we got water all over the floor again,” Ranma said as she turned and headed out into the yard.

“Do what? What’s going on?” Sayuri asked.

“What you guys are about to see is a little unbelievable but keep an open mind will you?” Akane pleaded, she wanted all three of her best friends to get along. Yuka and Sayuri looked at each other, they had known Akane for a long time and had never seen her like this. Whatever this was all about was important.

“Ok, we promise Akane-chan,” Sayuri promised. Akane sighed in relief then lead her friends outside where Ranma was waiting.

“Ok, just bare with me for a moment because I don’t know how you’re going to take what I say,” Ranma said as she turned to face Yuka and Sayuri. “Firstly you gotta know that I’m transgender.”

“Oh oh… wait that’s… that’s… that’s where you’re born one gender but feel like you’re the other right?” Yuka asked. When Ranma nodded she gave Ranma a curious look. “So… are you a girl in a guys body or do you have a girls body under that outfit but going through all that stuff so you can have a boys body later?”

“I was born a boy,” Ranma said. “It was something I was never comfortable with, like I was in the wrong skin my whole life but I didn’t really understand what that meant until recently. You know I was on a 10 year training trip with my Pops before I started school here, the last place we went was an old training ground in China called Jusenkyo.

“This training ground was different, it’s filled with hundreds of pools of water and a lot of them have bamboo poles sticking out of them that you can balance on. But what makes this place so special is the water.”

“What does that mean?” Yuka asked confused. Ranma didn’t answer her, instead taking the pitcher of water and pouring a little bit of it over her head. Yuka and Sayuri gasped loudly as they watched Ranma instantly changed from a taller good looking boy with black hair to a shorter cute looking red head with a decent sized bust.

“Each of the springs at Jusenkyo has a curse on it where you change into the thing that last drowned there with cold water. I was knocked into the spring of the drowned girl,” Ranma said. “/This/ body, as far as I’m concerned, is my real body.”

”Oh my god… you just turned into a girl,” Sayuri said softly, looking at Ranma with wide eyes.

“Yeah, really into a girl, I don’t think you can fake anything like this,” Yuka agreed as she stepped forward slightly. “So you said cold water turns you into a girl so hot water…”

“Changes me back into a boy,” Ranma said letting Akane pour a little hot water over her head. Akane’s two friends watched wide eyed as Ranma changed back to her other form. Ranma fidgeted slightly as she waited for the other two girls to say something. After a few seconds Yuka picked up the water pitcher and poured it over Ranma again, shifting her back into female form.

“So this is the real you huh?” She asked.

“So… you’re not disgusted?” Ranma asked.

“We’re a little weirded out,” Sayuri said after sharing a look with Yuka.

“Yeah, who knew that magic was real,” Yuka agreed.

“But Akane is vouching for you and I think it was brave of you to share this with us,” Sayuri continued giving Ranma a smile. Ranma smiled back as her shoulders sagged in relief. Akane grinned happily, she knew she could count on her friends.

“So what do you call yourself as a girl?” Yuka asked once they were all back inside and Ranma changed into some dry clothing.

“Hmm?” Ranma looked at Yuka confused.

“Well we can’t call you Ranma, I mean you’re trying to keep this a secret right? Calling you by your name might clue someone in on what’s going on,” Sayuri said.

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Ranma agreed. She thought back to when she met Ryoga on the street corner a couple of weeks ago, she hadn’t wanted him to know that she was the same boy he went to school with, at least not until she made it up to him after how bad she sometimes treated him. “Ranka.”

“Huh?” The other girls turned to look at Ranma.

“Call me ‘Ranka’ when I’m like this,” Ranma, no Ranka said. (1)

“Ranka huh?” Akane said. “It’s pretty.”

“Where did you come up with Ranka?” Yuka asked.

“A guy I knew before,” Ranka said. “I met him again a little while ago and he doesn’t know about my whole ‘curse’ and I didn’t want him to figure it out by telling him I was Ranma so I told him my name was Ranka.”

“Ohhh, a boy huh?” Sayuri said while Yuka giggled. “Sounds like you have a bit of a crush.” Ranka blushed slightly making her new friends giggle louder.

“Come on girls,” Kasumi said as she stepped out of the kitchen with her little purse in her hand. “We need to leave now if we’re going to spend the whole day shopping.”

****

“Aww, look at the cute little fox,” Yuka said as they walked through the shopping district Kasumi had led them to. Ranka turned to where Yuka was pointing and squealed happily.

“Kit-chan!” She yelled running toward the fox. Kit-chan looked up at the yell and gave an excited yip when he saw his beloved Ranka. He was quickly swept up into Ranka’s arms, blushing brightly as he was pressed into her ample bosom. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Ranka-chan!” Akane said as she and the other two ran to catch up with the red head. Ryoga glanced over at the girls, the one with the long blue hair looked a bit familiar but he couldn’t place his paw on where he’d seen her before.

“Ranka-chan, is he yours?” Yuka asked.

“Yep,” Ranka said as she hugged the blushing fox close. “This is my Kit-chan. I lost him a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been looking everywhere for him.”

“I didn’t know you had a pet,” Akane said.

“Well he’s a really recent pet, I was worried he might have run off,” Ranka said. Kit-chan whined softly in apology, he hadn’t meant to get lost and had been looking everywhere for her too when he wasn’t looking for that bastard Ranma.

“Girls, you shouldn’t run off like that,” Kasumi said as she caught up to the others then noticed Kit-chan in Ranka’s arms. “Oh, what a cute little fox.”

“Isn’t he?” Ranka agreed, letting Kit-chan climb onto her shoulders. “And he’s super tough too, we ran into this gang of boys in an alleyway and Kit-chan took down one of those wanna-be thugs all by himself.” She scratched Kit-chan behind the ears while he preened under her praise. The other girls giggled at the fox’s actions and cooed at how cute he was.

“Come on, let’s get shopping,” Akane said. Ranka, Yuka and Sayuri agreed and followed Akane down the busy street until they found a clothing store.

“Oh Ranka-chan, you gotta try this one,” Sayuri said as she found a blue sundress on one of the racks.

“It is nice,” Ranka agreed with a grin as she took it.

“I’m going to try on this one,” Akane said as she found a nice yellow dress. Sayuri and Yuka quickly found their own dresses to try on, leaving purses and Kit-chan with Kasumi so they could go change in the dressing room.

Inside Ranka’s dressing room, the red headed girl held up the dress to her front as she looked into the mirror. A giddy laugh escaped her as she grinned and hung the dress on a hook so she could undress down to her boxers. She quickly slid the dress on and sighed with another smile as she looked at her self. She loved the way the skirt flowed around her legs as she turned and how comfortable and right she felt wearing the dress.

She had worn a dress or two since she was able to find her real body back in the village in China. But they were form fitting short dresses, made to be battle ready. They were nothing like this, loose and free flowing. Horrible to fight in though she thought she could in a pinch as she gave a couple of punches and kicks.

‘Pops would have a heart attack if he saw how much I like this,’ Ranka thought gleefully as she stepped out of the dressing room. “How do I look?”

“Oh Ranka-chan, you look so nice,” Kasumi said with a bright smile as she clapped her hands in delight. Kit-chan’s mouth dropped open.

‘She looks more than nice, she’s beautiful,’ Ryoga thought, a red tint appearing on his furred cheeks as he watched Ranka spin in the dress to show the others as they came out of their dressing rooms. The other girls were pretty but none of them matched up to his red-headed angel. Ryoga’s imagination ran away from him as he saw Ranka surrounded by pink fluffy clouds and sparkles in his mind.

“Oh that looks so good on you Ranka,” Sayuri said.

“Oh could somebody help me?” Yuka’s voice said from another fitting room. “I can’t get the zipper all the way up.”

“I’ll help,” Ranka said as she was closer to the fitting room Yuka was in. She slipped behind the curtain and pulled the small zipper on the back of the other girl’s dress the rest of the way up.

“Thanks Ranka-chan,” Yuka asked as she moved to stand in front of the mirror. “Ooo, this one might make a good party dress. I’ll have to see how much it is, Mama only gave me a small allowance. Oh Ranka, you’re so pretty!” Yuka squealed as she turned around and looked at the red head.

“Thanks,“ Ranka said with a slight blush, twirling around so the skirt flared around her legs. “I like the way the skirt feels…. What’s wrong?” She asked when she saw Yuka frowning at her.

“You can see the outline of your boxers and when your skirt flared up I could see them,” Yuka said. “That’s not the right kind of underwear to wear.”

“Oh…” Ranka blushed again and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well I don’t really have anything else.”

“We’ll have to fix that,” Yuka said as she grabbed Ranka’s hand and pulled her out. Akane had come out of her fitting room as well and was modeling the dress for her sister. “Sa-chan, Akane-chan.”

“What’s wrong?” Sayuri asked.

“Ranka-chan doesn’t have the right type of… you know… under clothing,” Yuka said in a whisper as she waved her hand toward her hips. Sayuri looked at Ranka again and hummed.

“Oh you’re right, I didn’t notice before. Ranka, don’t you have any panties?” Sayuri asked. “You’re not wearing a bra either.”

“Why would she? She’s, you know, not like this all the time,” Akane pointed out.

“Akane-chan has a point,” Yuka said.

“I don’t own any of that stuff, it’s not like Pops would let me get any,” Ranka said. “And the girls back in the village I was staying in didn’t… um… really wear bras so I didn’t either.”

“Well, you’re blessed with a very… umm…” Yuka blushed as she stumbled over her words.

“Perky,” Sayuri said.

“Yes yes, perky that’s it,” Yuka quickly agreed with a nod. “Blessed with a very perky…”

“Kami-sama you two,” Akane said with a roll of her eyes. “You’ve got big breasts Ranka and a lot of girls usually wear bras to help support that.”

“Oh,” Ranka blushed again. “Well I don’t see how that would work with… you know.”

“Well I could see where it would be uncomfortable when you changed but I think it would be a good idea to have some just in case,” Yuka said while Sayuri nodded. Akane thought about it for a moment then agreed as well. Ranka sighed but went along with it, they had been girls longer than her after all.

“Alright, let’s finish looking for clothing here then we’ll hit the lingerie shop,” Yuka said with a giggle.

The four girls tried on many outfits, modeling them for Kasumi and Kit-chan. Ranka has a small pile of clothing built up to buy when they were done made up of dresses and other cute outfits. When they left the store Ranka walked out wearing a short sleeve blue shirt and a pair of cute over-alls.

“Ok so we need to get her some shoes and we need to stop at that lingerie store,” Sayuri said. Kit-chan’s ears perked up. Lingerie? As in female underclothing? Ryoga imagined Ranka in a bra and matching panties but didn’t get very far as his nose started to bleed and he fainted.

“Kit-chan!” Ranka said in alarm as she caught the fox-cursed boy as he fell off her shoulders.

****

“I wonder why he fainted like that,” Kit-chan could faintly hear Ranka’s voice as he slowly came to again. “And he’s got a nosebleed.”

“Do you think we should take him to the vet?” He could hear one of the other girls in the group ask. He lifted his head from where it had been laying on Ranka’s arm and looked around dazed. He was cradled in his Ranka-chan’s arms and gave a soft confused bark.

“He’s awake!” Ranka said as she shifted Kit-chan to look at him. “I was worried when you fainted, are you alright?”

Ryoga gave a small yip while mentally he cursed himself, damn him and his nose bleeds! This happened every time he thought of or saw a hint of naked female flesh. He was so overcome by embarrassment that he got a nosebleed and a lot of the times fainted if he didn’t stop it in time. Still, as he was hugged and petted by the pretty Ranka some good came out of this.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Kasumi said, laughing softly at the blissed-out look on the fox’s face. “If it happens again we’ll take him to the vet. We should go ahead and get Ranka-chan her… ah-hmm… underwear then stop for lunch.”

“Hai Kasumi-chan,” the girls chimed together.

‘Underwear?’ Ryoga thought dazed then widened his eyes in panic, trying to think of anything but the girls in their underclothing and nothing else. He did not want another nose bleed and fainting again! He was jolted out of his thoughts a few seconds later as Ranka handed him over to Kasumi who had sat down on a bench outside the store to watch their bags. The fox cursed boy was a little disappointed he wouldn’t get to see his lovely Ranka model panties now…. Oh well maybe it was for the best.

Inside the store Ranka looked around with wide eyes, she had no idea that there were so many different styles of bras and panties. And other things she had no idea what they were. Joketsuzoku village girls tended to only wear a simple brand of panties, and even then some went commando when they wore pants, and none really wore bras.

“Kami-sama…” Ranka breathed softly.

“Yeah, it takes a lot of hard work to be a girl,” Sayuri teased with a wink.

“But we look good in the end and drive the guys wild,” Yuka added with a giggle. “Or girls if that’s your thing.”

“How the heck would any of this work?” Ranka whispered. “I mean I can’t really wear any of it as a boy.”

“Well maybe you could wear the panties,” Yuka said.

“Yeah, I heard some guys love to wear women’s underwear,” Sayuri said. Akane snorted softly at the idea.

“Sounds like a bunch of perverts,” she chimed in.

“Well I think some are but I heard some just like to feel pretty,” Yuka said. “And Drag Queens wear women’s clothing too, I think that includes the underwear.”

“I think the bra is going to be the biggest problem,” Sayuri said. “But it would be a good idea for you to have a couple when you’re in your real form for an extended period of time. Come on, let’s look around.” She grabbed Ranka’s hand and pulled her into the sea of racks.

A few minutes later they had the gender-cursed teen in the fitting room, Akane behind her helping to snap up a bra in the back.

“So how do you feel about all this Ranma?” Akane asked softly.

“I like all the clothing, I feel so much more like a girl,” Ranka said with a grin. “The panties aren’t bad but I really don’t see how it’s going to be comfortable as a boy. The bra on the other hand…” she rolled her shoulders to try and get use to wearing one. Akane giggled softly at her friend.

“I started with a training bra when I was young and started to develop,” she told the other girl. “It can take a bit of getting use too. We can look for some boy shorts, it’s kinda like a girl version of boxers, and maybe some sports bras if you got to fight any.”

Ranka smiled and turned around to hug Akane.

“Thank you so much for putting up with all this,” She whispered. Akane blinked in surprise then hugged the smaller girl back.

“You’re welcome. I have no idea what you are going through and I’m sorry I was a jerk when I found out about your curse,” Akane whispered back. “It’s kinda fun to help you discover your girly side Ranma.” Ranka laughed softly as she pulled back.

“Don’t forget, I’m Ranka like this,” She said half jokingly with a wink. She sighed then and turned back to look in the mirror. “I can’t want to get this locked permanently and don’t have to worry about if I can wear any of this as a boy or what to do if I do change. I just want to be in my real girl form all the time. This thing is a little tight.”

“You might need a bigger size,” Akane said as she picked through the pile looking for the next size up. “What about the stuff you were using before to stay a girl?”

“The waterproof soap?” Ranka asked as she struggled to get the bra unclasped. Akane rolled her eyes and reached over to help. “I would love to but I have no idea where Cologne got it.”

“Here try this one,” Akane said, handing over another bra.

“How’s it going in there?” Yuka asked from the other side of the curtain.

“We’re trying to find one that fits,” Akane called back. The bra that Akane gave Ranma was the type that clasped in the front, giving the neo-girl an easier time to clasp it up. “These are just simple everyday wear bras, maybe we should skip on the fancier ones.”

“Please, I need time to just get use to this!” Ranka said with a nervous laugh.

Half an hour later the girls left the store, Ranka holding a bag filled with panties, boy shorts and a few normal and sports bras. She even had a couple of thongs, something Sayuri and Yuka insisted on.

/‘How the hell do people wear those things?’ /she wondered to herself.

“Did you girls find everything?” Kasumi asked, looking up from the book she had been reading. Kit-chan looked up, waking up from the little power nap he was having and gave a happy yip at seeing Ranka.

“Yeah,” Akane said as she started to pick up bags. As Ranka picked up Kit-chan he poked his nose into one of the bags she was holding, jerking back and quickly climbing onto her shoulders when he discovered it was full of panties, covering his nose with his paws as he tried to keep it from bleeding. The girls laughed at the silly fox, Ranka kissing the top of his head. Ryoga sighed happily, green eyes wide as his crush kissed him.

‘Oh Ranka…’

*****

Later that afternoon, after the shopping trip was over, Akane changed into her favorite yellow gi and went out for her daily run. The trip had gone a lot better that she thought it would originally, she was very happy her two best friends accepted Ranma for who she was. In fact, they accepted it easier and quicker than she had, something she was a little ashamed of.

Still Ranma, as Ranka, had plenty of stuff to wear as a girl now all safely tucked away in her closet and a cleaned out drawer in her room. They had thought about putting everything in the guest room but there was always the possibility of Ranma’s father showing up at any time. So far he hadn’t and if Ranma was right, then Genma was currently at a zoo and didn’t have ready access to any hot water but who knew if that would last.

Then there was also Ranma’s little pet fox Kit-chan, who was adorable and acted so cute with Ranma. Akane sighed again as she turned the corner to go down another street near her home. She wished she had a pet but they had never been able to afford one, not until recently when Nabiki completely took over having everything paid in the house. She always wanted a cat, which was out of the question now with Ranma living with them, or maybe a little pig would be fun too. Anything really as long as it wasn’t feline.

Akane skid to a stop as something small and purple streaked across her path, emitting a high pitch rapid almost barking like noise followed by a yappy dog chasing whatever the other animal was. She blinked for a moment then quickly took off after the two animals.

“Hey!” Akane said as she quickly found the dog barking and growling at a pile of cinder blocks. “Let it alone you stupid dog!” She grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and pulled it back. The dog turned to growl and snap at Akane but quickly cowered in fear with its tail between its legs as Akane loomed over it, an eerie battle aura springing up around her and her eyes seeming to glow brightly.

“Yip yip yip yip…” The dog quickly ran out of the lot, yipping loudly. Akane huffed and straightened her hair then knelt down next to the cinder block pile.

“Come on, the mean old dog is gone now,” Akane cooed to the creature as she reached in and gently picked up the animal. She hissed as little claws scratched across her hand but didn’t let go as she brought it to the light. Cupping her hands around the tiny critter and holding its shaking body up to her chest, Akane squealed softly. “Oh you are so cute!”

Cupped in her hands was the cutest little sugar glider. Its fur was a bright purple, an unusual color but since her own hair was dark blue Akane shrugged it off, and eyes were a pretty red color. Akane cooed and gently petted the gilder as it clung to the front of her gi, feeling its tiny heart beat rapidly in fright then slowed down a bit as it calmed. She grinned and stood up, walking away from the lot with the sugar glider. Akane didn’t know if it was someone’s pet or not but if they were irresponsible enough to let it out where a dog would try to eat it then they didn’t deserve the cute little critter. She on the other hand would take much better care of it.

****

Still clinging to Akane’s top, Shampoo slowly became aware of everything around her. Her animal instincts had overtaken her human mind for a short time when the dog had started chasing her right after she had been splashed with cold water. This was not the first time it had happened either, Shampoo hated her cursed form. She was small and helpless in this form, a far cry from the warrior woman she was among her village.

Shampoo didn’t like Japan all that much, or thought all that much of the wide world in general. While not a backwards village by any means, growing up mostly sheltered in Joketsuzoku hadn’t prepared Shampoo for the big cities where before the only thing she had to worry about was any possible war between her people and the Musk or even the Bird People of Mt. Phoenix if they should decide to attack one day. She barely knew enough Japanese to get around, curse that stupid Mousse for getting separated from her he was at least fluent in the language, and turning into a helpless sugar glider at a moment’s notice didn’t help things at all!

And she still hadn’t found her adopted sister Ranma or that blasted panda man that kidnapped Ranma and cursed her. Things were starting to look a bit hopeless but Shampoo was a Joketsuzoku warrior! She couldn’t let things like this get in the way of her mission.

Stirring herself from her depressing thoughts, Shampoo finally took a look around her. She was clinging to some yellow material and gentle hands were holding her up and petting her. Shampoo would not admit it, even on her death bed, but those fingers stroking her fur felt really really nice. She looked up at the face of the one holding it, a pretty girl with long blue hair and wide brown eyes, and Shampoo quickly realized that the girl had saved her from the vicious little dog. She would have to give the girl the Kiss of Friendship, a kiss on the nose, for saving her life once she turned back as was only proper.

“You’ll like our house, it’s a little loud at times but Kasumi-neechan is a great cook,” Shampoo flushed slightly as she realized the girl had been speaking this whole time to her and she hadn’t been listening.

Akane quickly slipped through the gate and into the house, calling out happily that she was home.

“Did you have a nice run Akane-chan?” Kasumi asked as she leaned out of the kitchen to greet her youngest sister. “Oh my, what a cute little sugar glider. Where did you find it?”

“Some idiot must have left it out, I found a dog trying to eat it,” Akane said. “Can I keep it?”

“Well… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” Kasumi said. Shampoo gave a noise of protest, she was no one’s pet! She was a mighty warrior!

“Hey Akane, you’re back early from your run,” Shampoo’s head snapped up and she twisted around to look behind her. A happy chattering sound escaped from Shampoo, there was Ranma she finally found her sister!

“Yeah, I found this poor little thing being harassed by a stupid dog,” Akane said as she petted Shampoo who tried not to relax into the feeling but soon found herself doing so.

“It’s cute but what is it?” Ranka asked as she leaned forward to get a closer look. Kit-chan shifted so he wouldn’t tumble off Ranka’s shoulder then sniffed at the animal, giving a small series of yips and barks.

‘It’s a sugar glider Ranka-chan,’ Ryoga ‘said’.

“Why is he barking, he’s not going to eat Kyandi is he?” Akane said as she held Shampoo, or Kyandi as Akane had dubbed her, away from Kit-chan.

“I don’t think so, I already fed him this afternoon and he doesn’t look like he wanted to eat it or anything,” Ranka said as she straightened up, one hand on Kit-chan’s back. “Kyandi?”

“That’s its name!” Akane said, feeling clever at coming up with it. “It’s a sugar glider and sugar is what candy is made out of so Kyandi!” (2)

“Is it a boy or a girl?” Ranka asked. “If it’s a boy, it might not like being called Kyandi.”

“I’m not sure,” Akane admitted as she pulled Shampoo off her shirt and looked at her. Shampoo started to chatter in protest.

/‘Hey! What are you doing!?/’ Shampoo started blushing hotly as Akane checked to see what gender she was, ducking and hiding her face in embarrassed shame. Oh how she hated this cursed form!

“I think it’s a girl,” Akane said as she held Shampoo against her chest again.

“Well I can go buy some pellets and things at the store tomorrow,” Kasumi said. “For now just keep an eye on Kyandi-chan.”

“Hai Kasumi,” Akane said happily. She finally had a pet of her own! Shampoo was not as happy about the arrangement, she needed to find some hot water as soon as possible.

The two girls walked out to the dojo, Ranka placing Kit-chan on the floor next to the wall then waited for Akane go join her. Akane looked around trying to find a safe place to put Kyandi then sighed as she placed the sugar glider next to the fox.

“There, you two play nice, don’t you dare eat her fox,” Akane warned with a finger in front of Ryoga’s muzzle. He quickly yipped and laid down on the floor, his head laying on his paws as he turned his wide green eyes up to Akane. Shampoo crossed her forepaws over her chest and sulked as Akane walked away. The two animal cursed teens watched Akane and Ranka spar, Ryoga admiring how strong and graceful Ranka was.

Shampoo also admired her ‘sister’, Ranma was the best sparring partner she could ever ask for since most of her village was unable to defeat her now. The other girl on the other hand… not as great of a fighter. She left a lot of openings that if the fight were much more serious could have gotten her killed on the field of battle. Several younger sisters and brothers of the village could have taken this girl down easily. Still, Ranma was trying to correct those mistakes and Shampoo wondered what the relationship between her sister and Akane was.

Shampoo watched the two girls go back and forth for a few more minutes then tried to sneak off to go find a bathroom and hot water. Tried is the key word as Ryoga quickly placed his paw on Shampoo’s tail and gave a warning growl. Shampoo turned and glared at the fox, a bolt of lightning seeming to pass between their eyes as the pair squared off.

‘Just try it fox,’ Shampoo thought as her hackles rose. ‘I’m just in the mood to take you down and turn you into a pair of gloves!’

‘You’re not going anywhere rat,’ Ryoga thought. ‘I’m not about to be made mincemeat by Ranka-chan’s friend because I let you wander off.’ Both glared at the other for a few seconds, daring the other to make the first move. Shampoo gave a warrior’s cry, or tried to but it only came out as a high pitch squeak that couldn’t even strike terror into a timid mouse, and leapt at Ryoga, landing on the startled foxes head. Ryoga yipped in surprise and shook his head, trying to get Shampoo to let go of him but she held on fast.

“Kyandi!”
“Kit-chan!”

Ranko and Akane raced over and pried the two animals apart, bits of Kit-chan’s fur in Kyandi’s claws once they were separated.

“What was that about?” Ranko asked as she held Kit-chan close to her chest, petting him and kissing the top of his head. Ryoga’s body became relaxed instantly as he basked in the attention he was getting.

“I don’t know… maybe it’s a good idea if I bring her inside,” Akane said, gently petting Kyandi’s back. “Maybe she had a flashback to that little yappy dog from today.”

‘I’ll get you fox,’ Shampoo thought at Ryoga, slowly relaxing as Akane petted her. ‘Don’t you try anything stupid with my sister!!’ Ryoga didn’t even seem to notice the death glares Shampoo sent his way as she was carried out, too busy paying attention to his Ranka.

****

Unfortunately for Ryoga the Eternal Lost Boy had lived up to his name once again after Ranka had put him down to go help Kasumi move food from the kitchen to the dining table. Ryoga as Kit-chan started to sniff around the room, following his nose down the hallway and somehow ended up in the backroom of a tattoo parlor. He wasn’t sure how he ended up in a tattoo parlor, of course he never could figure out how he ended up half the places that he did and chalked it up to Hibiki bad-luck.

“Has anyone seen Kit-chan?” Ranma asked as she exited the furo with a towel draped over her neck and long black hair hanging free in damp clumps.

“Sorry Ranma-chan,” Kasumi said with a shake of her head. “I haven’t seen him since before we had supper.” Ranma sighed, a mushroom-shaped cloud escaping as she did.

“I wonder where he’s gone now,” she said in disappointment. She hoped her little fox hadn’t run off and got lost somewhere, she thought there might be a gap in the fence around the Tendo yard the little fox could escape from.

“He seemed like a smart boy, he’ll turn up again,” Kasumi assured her. Ranma sighed and nodded her head, heading up to her borrowed room to sleep for the night.

Later that evening after everyone in the house was asleep for the night, Shampoo escaped the tight grip Akane had on her and broke out of Akane’s room by tearing a small hole in the rice paper on her door.

‘Aiyah, that girl has a grip like a bear!’ Shampoo thought as she scampered down the stairs to the furo she had seen earlier. She gave a little cheer when she saw it was still filled with hot water and dove into it, feeling a tingle run over her body as she instantly changed into her true form. ‘Ahhhh, much better. I hate that weak little form, why couldn’t I get cursed with something useful like a cat or something?’

She pouted as she sat in the hot water, arms crossed under her impressive breasts. Really of all the things she could be cursed as, a sugar glider wasn’t on the top of her list. It was only a little better than turning into say a mouse. At least as a gilder she could get up high somewhere and glide away to safety if she couldn’t find someplace small to hide.

Well… maybe not the only good thing. Shampoo blushed slightly as she remembered being held by Akane and the girl petting her gently. She was still irritated the girl had adopted her as a pet, her Xian Pu of the Joketsuzoku warriors! Shampoo sighed and let her head dropped forward, her chin resting on her chest. It wasn’t Akane’s fault of course, for all the girl knew Shampoo was in fact an odd colored sugar glider.

‘I’ll just have to avoid getting caught again,’ Shampoo decided as she stood from the furo and grabbed a towel off the nearby shelf. Shampoo didn’t seem to care that she didn’t have any decent clothing to wear, walking out of the bathroom wearing just the towel that barely came to the top of her legs. She slipped back up the stairs, going past the three doors with the names of the three Tendo sisters hanging on them, peeking in another only to quickly close the door when she saw it was the room that belonged to the father then tried the last room in the hall.

The bouncy purple girl gave a little soft cheer as she found Ranma sleeping in the last room, quietly slipping in and closing the door behind her. Sneaking over on bare feet, Shampoo knelt down next to the futon on the floor.

“Ranma…” Shampoo whispered. Ranma grunted in her sleep and turned onto her side with her back to Shampoo. Shampoo frowned and reached down to shake Ranma’s shoulder but she just turned and dodged in her sleep. “Aiyah… Ranma fight even when sleep,” Shampoo whispered to herself. “Time for Shampoo take more direct approach.”

Shampoo prepared herself then proceeded to pounce on Ranma, making sure to cover the gender-bent girl’s mouth so her shout wouldn’t wake the house.

“HMMMFFF!” Ranma gave a muffled shout, sitting up in surprise. “Hamoo?” Ranma asked, her mouth still covered by the other’s hand.

“Aiyah, Shampoo so happy to see little sister,” Shampoo said as she dropped her hand from Ranma’s mouth so she could hug the other girl tightly. “Shampoo so worried when Panda-man took Ranma. Ranma okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine Shampoo,” Ranma assured her with a whisper. “Mousse gave me the rundown on what happen after Pops knocked me out.”

“Stupid Mousse already here?” Shampoo asked in surprise.

“Yes, I’ve already spoke to him and I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him,” Ranma said. “I don’t want you to kill my father.”

“But Panda-man kidnap Ranma and dishonor Shampoo,” Shampoo argued. “Panda-man deserve to be rug!”

“Shhh! Keep it down,” Ranma said as she frantically waved her hands. “You don’t want to wake up the whole household do you?” Shampoo pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, I’m not happy about Pops kidnapping me either and I’ll be glad to never see the fat panda again but he is my father and he did raise me. You can’t just go around killing people here Shampoo, that’ll get you arrested and deported, and you can’t kill the cops trying to arrest you either.”

Shampoo just pouted some more, the village rules and her own pride demanded that Genma suffer for what he did. Killing him was the most obvious choice, it was the harshest punishment and it would put the man out of her and Ranma’s life for good. But she guessed she could be satisfied with beating the living daylights out of Ranma’s father.

“Shampoo can still beat Panda-man up?” She asked. Ranma sighed and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

“Yes if Pops does show back up, and that’s an if cause I don’t know if he will, you and Mousse can beat him up as long as you don’t kill him,” Ranma promised. “And no, I don’t know where he is right now and if I did I’m not going to tell you.” She did not need Shampoo beating up every panda in Japan’s zoos, Mousse she could trust to at least wait until Genma came on his own but Shampoo was a very overeager person and would be all gung ho to get the job done.

“Fine,” Shampoo said, still cutely pouting then brightened up. “Then go home to village?”

“There might be a problem with that,” Ranma said. Shampoo gave her sister a confused look. “Pops engaged me to one of the girls here in the house, some sorta family agreement to join the two schools of Anything Goes. I don’t want it and neither do the Tendo sisters, we’re trying to figure a way out of it and we stalled their dad from making me choose a bride for at least a year.”

“Aiyah, why not leave now?” Shampoo asked. “Go back to village.”

“Can’t, I’ll still be honor bound to marry one of the Tendo’s even if we go back to China and no killing them isn’t an option,” Ranma said. “I like the Tendos, Nabiki is a little… much… but they’re all three nice. I would like to break this agreement without staining my family’s honor or theirs.” Shampoo didn’t really want to kill Akane either, even if the girl thought she was just a sugar glider at the moment Shampoo liked the other girl.

“Shampoo have contact Great Grandmother,” Shampoo said as she tapped her chin with one finger. “She want know, maybe know way?” Ranma sighed in relief, letting herself flop back down on her bed as Shampoo’s mind turned away from thoughts of killing Genma Saotome. She blinked and really took Shampoo in, leaning up on her elbows.

“Shampoo, why are you only wearing a towel?”

****

Author Note: I know I know, I took forever with this. I have no real excuse other than real life has been a little hectic and some days I just don’t get around to working on any fanfics. That’s the curse of having a real life sometimes I guess.

(1) A lot of people are getting confused since I've been referring to Ranma as 'she' in both male and female forms. So to try and make it easier, for now on when it says 'Ranma' it means she's in her male form and 'Ranka' when she's in her female form. Kinda like what I've seen in a few fanfics before when authors called Ranma's girl from Ranko, except I'm using Ranka.

(2) Kyandi is the Japanese word for candy. Yea! So now everyone knows Shampoo’s cursed form is a sugar glider.