Wild Child 1 -- Kono Ko, Dare?
by David Eddy
     
     
     
     
Last modified:  Monday, 20 April 1998

A  fan  fiction  based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series,  Ranma
1/2.   The  characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Takahashi
Rumiko and her licensees.

Warning:   Occasional  adult  concepts.   Some  readers  may   be
offended by some of the material contained herein.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     The view was wonderful.  It was the main reason she had
bought this apartment.  Outside, against the darkness the lights
of buildings were multicoloured jewels set in black velvet.  The
bright yellow lines of major roads were stitchwork holding the
tapestry together, and the bright signs of the shops and
billboards were random splashes of colour from a painter's brush.
It was lovely.
     
     The woman admiring the view was of average height and
dressed in a kimono patterned with fall leaves in earthen tones.
Soft overhead lights picked out reddish-bronze highlights in her
dark hair.
     
     Clattering sounds and the occasional curse floated from the
kitchen as her daughter prepared dinner.  A slight wince crossed
the woman's pleasant, unlined features every now and again as a
particularly nasty-sounding noise issued from the kitchen.
     
     Finally the kitchen grew quiet, and from the door connecting
the two rooms stepped a teenaged girl whose most striking
features were her large, blue eyes and flaming red hair which she
wore loose, trailing midway down her back.  A face not unlike her
mother's and a curvy, compact body combined to make a package
that had a trail of love-struck admirers following her all around
school.  But at the moment her features were marred by a sullen
scowl as she carelessly plopped the serving dishes onto the low
table in the centre of the living room.  The girl disappeared for
a moment, then reappeared with bowls and chopsticks.  She slapped
them down on the table and sat down.  Without waiting for the
elder woman, she served herself and wordlessly began to eat.
     
     Saotome Nodoka rose from where she knelt by the floor-to-
ceiling window and gracefully sat at the table.  "Ranko," she
said reprovingly, "what have I said to you about table manners?"
     
     Saotome Ranko glared across the table at her mother,
chopsticks poised halfway between bowl and mouth.  The tableau
lasted for several seconds before Ranko snorted and resumed
eating.
     
     Nodoka sighed.  "Itadakimasu," she said formally before
taking up her rice bowl and filling it from the cooker.
Delicately taking a morsel of fish from a plate on the table, she
sat back on her heels and considered her daughter as she ate.
     
     It would be easy to blame herself, but Nodoka could not see
where she had gone wrong.  But nothing she did seemed to reach
Ranko anymore.  She could not understand the girl.  Why did she
have such a bad attitude?  Why was she so rebellious?  She was
just impossible to deal with... that is, when she was actually at
home.  Nodoka reflected that she saw her daughter less and less
these days.
     
     Silence reigned for a time as the two women ate, until
finally Nodoka put down her half-eaten meal.
     
     "You are becoming quite skilled at cooking, dear," she said.
"The food is very nice."
     
     Ranko just glared at her and grunted.  Nodoka frowned.  Yes,
Ranko was fractious and rebellious, but tonight she had taken it
to whole new levels.  She leaned forward a little.
     
     "Ranko-chan... what's wrong?  I know that we've...."  Nodoka
trailed off into silence before starting again, allowing concern
at her daughter's atypical behaviour to show on her face.  "Ranko-
chan, today something in particular seems to be bothering you.
Perhaps I can help?"
     
     The red-haired girl took one last mouthful of rice and
plonked her bowl down.  "It's nothing," she said, speaking for
the first time.  "It's just that prick Ichiro."
     
     Scowling at Ranko's street talk, Nodoka asked, "But dear,
weren't you saying just last week that he was the love of your
life?"
     
     "Yeah.  That bastard."  Ranko sighed, seeming to deflate,
the anger and frustration fading from her face, leaving only
sadness. She gulped to clear her throat, then continued, "I broke
up with him last weekend.  He didn't like it, but he was getting
too possessive."  She closed her eyes for a long moment before
continuing.  "Then today Hatusko broke up with me.  This
afternoon the two of them came up to me together, hand in hand,
and told me...."  She closed her eyes, not bothering to try and
stop the tears from coming.  Angrily she wiped her eyes.  "It's
not like it should matter.  After all, all's fair in love and
war, ne?  Why should Hatsuko be any different?"
     
     Nodoka tut-tutted, even as she struggled to hide her shocked
reaction at this further evidence of her daughter's... freedom of
expression.  Still, she could not let it pass entirely without
comment.  "Dear, you know I don't approve of your relationships
with other girls."
     
     Eyes blazing, Ranko jerked to her feet.  "I should have
known better than to expect sympathy from you!" she yelled
angrily, moving to stalk out of the room.
     
     Nodoka grabbed her hand, stopping her.  "Ranko-chan,
please... I know that sounded unsympathetic, but didn't mean it
that way.  I just don't think it's womanly for a girl to love
other girls."  She sighed again, and put a smile onto her face.
"Here, sit down here with me and let me tell you what happened to
me this weekend."
     
     For a long moment Ranko stood motionless, but then she knelt
slowly on the tatami matting next to her mother.  Nodoka put an
arm around Ranko and, pulling her head into her chest, stroked
her hair to comfort her.  She felt a little happy, remembering
the better times years ago when she and Ranko had done this
often.  For a time she just held her daughter, enjoying her
warmth and closeness until eventually Ranko hugged her back.
Seeing her daughter's weak smile, Nodoka felt reassured that all
was on the road to recovery.  She began to speak.
     
     "On Saturday, I went to visit some old friends of the
family, the Tendous.  Their mother died several years ago now;
she was a good friend of mine.  So now they are only the father,
Soun, and his three daughters:  Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane.  Akane
is about your age, I think."  She paused thoughtfully.  "They
also had their cousin staying with them, though I don't recall a
cadet branch of the family.  Anyway, you won't believe this,
Ranko-chan:  This girl is almost your twin!  She even calls
herself Ranko."
     
     Ranko looked up in interest.  "What, she looks like me?  And
has the same name?"
     
     Nodoka looked at Ranko carefully, taking the opportunity to
move her daughter out of her embrace lest the girl begin to feel
over-mothered.  "Your hair is different.  She wore hers bound up
in a braid, and she hadn't dyed her hair as you have.  Still, if
it were not for that, I'm not sure I could tell you apart.  It's
very strange.
     
     "She's a very strange girl, too.  She has a trained pet
panda, and she refuses to act like a girl unless she thinks I'm
looking.  She dresses in boy's clothes, Ranko-chan, even to the
point of not wearing a bra!"  Nodoka's mouth twisted
disapprovingly.  "She speaks like a boy, too.  Terribly improper.
She seems to be good friends with Tendou Akane-chan, and Akane-
chan said that Ranko had been brought up as a boy."
     
     Ranko's interest was piqued.  A girl who was her twin?  She
wondered if they might by chance be related.  "So why did you go
there, mom?"
     
     Nodoka sighed.  Looking a little sad, she said, "I was
hoping to find your brother Ranma."
     
     Ranko sat bolt upright.  "I have a brother?!"
     
     Caught by surprise, Nodoka was forced to prop herself
against the floor to prevent herself falling over from Ranko's
rapid movement.  "Of course," she said.  "He's the same--"
Nodoka cut herself off, her hand against her mouth and an
expression of horror growing on her face.
     
     Ranko's gaze bore into her mother's eyes.  "The same what?"
     
     Nodoka looked away.  "The same age as you," she said
quietly, at last.
     
     Shock filled Ranko.  She had a brother?  The same age as
her?  She took a step back in surprise.  Why didn't she....  "The
same age as me?  Why can't I remember him?"
     
     Shame filled Nodoka's face.  "Genma... Genma took him on a
training trip when he was five.  They have been away ever since."
     
     A secret suspicion that Ranko had harboured for years, ever
since she had noticed her growing resemblance to her mother one
day in a photograph, suddenly crystallized.  Its impact made her
sag forward a little. "You lied to me! I'm... I'm *not* adopted,
am I?" she said.  An unstoppable sense of betrayal rose in her as
her suspicions solidified.  "You said I was adopted!  Were you
*ashamed* of me?! Don't you love me?! "
     
     Tears began to spill down Ranko's face as she knelt facing
her mother.  For a long minute Nodoka said nothing, remaining
perfectly still.  Then she said, quietly, "Ranko-chan... you are
correct.  You are of my blood.  You are, in truth, my daughter."
     
     "Then why did you tell me such a horrible lie?!  Why did you
tell me my parents had died in a car crash?!  Why didn't I know I
had a brother?!  The same age as me... a *twin* brother?!"
shouted Ranko.
     
     Silently, Nodoka got up and knelt by the windows, looking
out at the nightscape.  "Please, Ranko-chan... please don't ask
me to explain that just now..."
     
     Frustration crescendoed within Ranko, and feeling as if she
would explode if she remained still any longer, she burst out of
her kneeling position to run out the front door.  The door
slammed closed, and suddenly the flat was silent and empty.
Nodoka looked out at the lovely nightscape, but all she could see
was her face reflected in the glass... that, and another
beautiful face from almost ten years ago who had come to her in
her time of need.  Tears fell as she remembered.
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     Ranko sank to the cold floor of the underground garage,
exhausted at last.  Her hands and feet throbbed a little from the
intensity of the attack she had directed at the innocent concrete
column she had long ago padded with rice straw as a practice
post.
     
     She felt cold trails of sweat crawl down her back as she
rested, looking up at the column as though it was some kind of
oracle.  Tears no longer leaked from her eyes, but they were not
far away.  'Why?' she asked herself as she racked her brains,
trying to remember a time before her seventh birthday, trying to
remember the rest of her family.  A feeling of betrayal filled
her as she thought of her mother's duplicity.  Frustrations that
had been years in the building were coming out tonight...
rebellion at the traditional upbringing Nodoka had tried to force
upon her, at the pretty, frilly clothes she insisted she wear
until she became old enough to refuse, at the....  Words failed
Ranko even in her own head, and the frustration forced itself out
of her throat as a primal scream.
     
     The echoes were still fading when a plan occurred to her.
She thought back to her initial thought about this other "Ranko".
This girl was her twin in appearance?  She wondered what it would
be like to meet someone who was a mirror's reflection.  Would it
be spooky or warm?  Would she be a soul-mate or enemy?
     
     Her thoughts moved on to the discovery that she had a twin
brother, one who had been away from home for as long as she could
remember, training in the martial arts.  But apparently he was
supposed to have finished his training trip by now; why else
would her mother go "searching" - in only one place - for him?
She obviously knew where he was supposed to be.  So... why not
try and find her brother herself?  Living with her father could
not possibly be any worse than living with her mother Nodoka.
     
     ' Dear, you know I don't approve of your relationships with
other girls,' echoed Nodoka's voice in Ranko's head.  Pah!  What
would she know?  Hide-bound, traditional, narrow-minded old bint!
Her mind was made up.  She would stick it out for the rest of the
week, but next weekend after school she would go out, seeking her
father and twin brother, and possibly also this other girl who
was also her twin.  She would go out, get away from her mother...
and never come back.
     
     Ever.
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     "Nerima... Nerima... The next station is Nerima."
     
     There train was crowded but not packed, people going about
their business.  Shopping bags filled the luggage racks and a few
sat on the floor, their contents moving about with a rustle of
plastic as the train rocked from side to side as it went around
curves in the track.  A low susurration of conversation filled
the quiet, air-conditioned interior of the electric train,
punctuated by the occasional laugh or the squeal of a child.
     
     By the door of the carriage, Ranko stood with a small half-
smile on her face.  Dressed comfortably in jeans and a light
sweater beneath a worn leather jacket, sturdy walking shoes on
her feet and her black hair pulled neatly back with an old
baseball cap which read "Sexy", she looked every inch an
experienced backpacker.  She watched her reflection in the
train's windows for a bit, admiring the way she looked.  Her eyes
kept going to her hair.  Her mother had been surprised when she
had dyed it back to its original colour.  Surprised, but pleased.
When asked, she had said, "Hatsuko liked it red," and that was
the end of the questions from her mother.  She smiled
mischievously at her reflection.  It would never have done to
tell her mother the real reason for the change.
     
     The train decelerated and as it glided smoothly to a halt,
she shouldered her bulky backpack which seemed nearly as tall as
she was and hefted her sports bag through the opening door.  She
pushed her way through the shoppers waiting to board the train
and stopped near a convenient seat at the back of the platform.
Putting the backpack down, she stopped for a moment to look out
from the elevated platform over the neighborhood.
     
     'So this is Nerima,' she mused to herself.  Looking around,
she could see that it was mainly made up of individual houses.
Some tallish buildings to one side looked like the local shopping
and business district, but mostly the area was populated with the
separated houses with gardens that marked it as moderately
prosperous.  Small apartment blocks and some large houses that
were probably boarding houses were scattered near the train
station, and a little way away she could see the regulation
architecture of the local schools, but otherwise everything was
pleasantly low.  She realized that she was betting a lot on the
fact that either Ranma or Genma would be at the Tendou Dojo, but
she was willing to take that risk... and if not, well, she'd like
to meet her "twin" anyway.  And she had a small tent with her
just in case.
     
     She hauled the map she had copied during a midnight raid on
her mother's papers from a pocket of the backpack along with a
miniature Tokyo Metropolitan street map book and spent a few
minutes fixing the layout of the district in her mind before
tucking everything away again and shrugging into the backpack.
The clips on the hip-band and chest closed with crisp *click*
sounds, and in moments the heavy pack was balanced and she was
ready to go.  Lifting the sports bag, she headed to the stairway
that led down to the street.
     
     Walking slowly but easily along the street in the economical
gait one uses under a heavy load, Ranko took her time heading
towards her destination.  There was no hurry.  The people around
here seemed happy, she noted, smiling.  It was pleasant walking
in the autumn sunshine, and Ranko looked around eagerly, taking
in the sights.
     
     As she walked, her thoughts drifted back to the notion of a
twin... whether coincidental, her "twin" Ranko, or blood, her
brother Ranma who was, according to her mother, the same age as
her.  Same blood, same age... she guessed that made him her twin.
     
     She couldn't repress a vague burning in her guts at the way
her mother had betrayed her, almost disowned her.  Telling her
she was adopted for all those years... what was she thinking?
What possible reason could she have for doing such a thing?
Ranko shook her head, deciding not to think of that just now.
Perhaps she would find out later.  For now, though, she walked
on, once again eagerly taking in the sights and sounds as she
walked.
     
     It wasn't all that long before Ranko found herself standing
outside a gate in an impressive masonry wall... impressive for
its uninterrupted length, that is.  She read the sign aloud to
herself.  "Ten-dou-dou-jou.  Musabetsu kakutou."  She raised an
eyebrow at the designation of the school... an unrestricted, open-
handed style by its name.  The twitter of some birds distracted
her for a moment and she stood with one hand on the gate,
listening.  Traffic noises, though present, were muted.  In the
distance she could hear the noise of a train passing, but the
loudest sound was that of birds talking.  The link to nature
lifted her heart.  "I can't believe how quiet it is here," she
said to herself as she pushed open the gate.
     
     A bell tinkled as she opened the gate and stepped through.
Closing the gate again, she looked around in amazement.  "Wow,
what a place!" she said as she dropped her bag and unclipped the
pack's straps.  Shaking her head she admired the lovely, large
garden as she lowered the pack to the ground with a grunt of
effort.
     
     Suddenly the silence was shattered by a yell from inside the
house.  "Rannmaaa!" screamed a girl's voice, followed immediately
by the sickening smack of something heavy meeting flesh.  Ranko
traced the noise just in time to see someone falling from the
house's second story, apparently having come through an open
window.  With a chill, she saw the person fall into the pond in
the middle of the garden.  Moments later, she was astounded to
see a saturated version of herself stand up in the centre of the
pond.
     
     Her mother had said that there was a "Ranko" living here,
but Ranko hadn't really believed her.  However, the proof was
right there, standing in the middle of the pond.  As her mother
had said, this girl's hair was done up in a tight braid, but
other than that it was like looking in a mirror.  She wore a
heavy but short-sleeved red shirt of Chinese cut that clung to
her ample, unrestrained breasts.
     
     It *was* akin to looking in a mirror... but somehow
disturbingly different.  A reflection didn't take a half step in
hip-deep water, staring at you with eyes bugging out in
amazement, for one thing.
     
     "Ranmaaa!"  Ranko's gaze went automatically to the source of
the shout, and saw a girl of her own age, with lovely blue-black
hair cut in a pageboy cut, stalking from the house towards her.
She was quite pretty, Ranko noted, though at the moment her
features were distorted with anger.  She carried a bowl in one
hand; the other was balled into a fist.  Ranko noted the
definition of the muscles in the arm whose hand she had clenched,
softened by the natural body fat of a female teenager but very
much there, and she made a note to herself not to let herself get
hit by this girl.
     
     "Ranma!  Where do you think you're going without trying my
cookies!"
     
     Stunned, Ranko held up her hands defensively.  "Hey, hey,
wait a minute.  My name is *Ranko*!"
     
     "Sure you are, Ranma!  You just don't want to try my
cooking!"  Ranko watched in amazement as somehow sorrow blended
with the anger on the girl's face.  Judging by her apparent age,
she was pretty sure this would be Akane.  "I try so hard and all
you do is insult my cooking..."
     
     Ranko looked to the 'Ranko' in the pond, and saw her staring
back at her slack-jawed.  No help there.  She looked back to see
that Akane had produced a shinai from somewhere and was now
holding it threateningly.
     
     At this, Ranko noticed the girl in the pool sprint forward
and grab Akane's wrist.  "Hey, Akane," she said in a voice
identical to Ranko's own, "I'm over here."
     
     Akane spun to stare at the wet girl in disbelief, even as it
occurred to Ranko that her twin -- Ranma? -- had used male
speech.
     
     "Akane, who was at the gate?"  Ranko looked over Akane's
shoulder to see a tallish, brown-haired girl stepping out of the
house.  The girl's eyes widened momentarily as she took in the
scene before her, but then she relaxed and her warm, gentle
expression reappeared.  "Oh, a guest," she said on seeing Ranko
standing next to Ranma.  Her smile was welcoming.  "Would you
like some tea?"
     
     
     
     The three seated themselves at the table in the living room:
Ranma and Akane next to each other in their usual places, with
Ranko at the side that faced the garden.  Ranko noted that both
Akane and her twin, whom she presumed was called Ranma, were
looking at her suspiciously.  But hang on... wasn't Ranma *male*?
And wasn't Ranma her *brother*?  Her *twin* brother?
     
     "So... who are you?" asked Ranma.
     
     Ranko shook her head to throw off her confusion, deciding to
go for simplicity.  "I'm Saotome Ranko," she said.  "Mom said
that there was someone here who looked like me, but she said you
were called Ranko, not Ranma."
     
     The reaction was unexpected.  Ranma went pale.  "'Mom'? You
mean you're...?"
     
     "Saotome Nodoka's daughter.  I'm sixteen years old."
     
     Akane frowned, puzzled.  "I didn't know you had a sister,
Ranma?"
     
     "Neither did I," he said uncertainly.  Ranko noted that
"Ranma" seemed very nervous for some reason.
     
     "So who are you?" asked Ranko.  "Mom said Ranma was a guy."
     
     "I *am* a guy!" blurted out her twin.  Ranko stared at her
in amazement.
     
     "You don't look like any guy *I've* ever seen," she said
bluntly.  "In fact, you look like me, and *I'm* no guy!"
Narcissistic fantasies she'd masturbated to that week flickered
before her mind's eye.  Unconsciously she straightened her
shoulders, emphasising her bust line.  Ranko noticed her twin's
eyes flick to her chest before looking away.  She smiled a little
to herself, pleased, then turned her head to watch the elder girl
from earlier kneel beside the table and begin to serve tea.
     
     "I.  Am. A. Guy!" ground out "Ranma" with a frustrated
expression on her face.  She grabbed one of the tea cups and with
a flick of her wrist tossed the contents over her head.  Ranko
was astounded to see her twin replaced by a tall, well-muscled,
sexy guy with his hair done up in a braid.  "See?!"
     
     Ranko leaned forward in amazement, her eyes as big as pie
plates.  "Sutekiii," she breathed, taken by this vision of
masculinity.  She shook herself.  "O.. Oniichan?"  Then she
realised what had happened.  She edged away, still staring at
Ranma, now a little frightened.  "W...weren't you a girl a moment
ago?" she asked uncertainly.  "W-what's going on?"
     
     Akane hit Ranma on the shoulder.  "Ranma, that was stupid.
What if she tells your mother?"  Ranko saw Ranma go pale.
"Idiot," added Akane.
     
     Ranma's hand went to the back of his head and he looked down
at the table.  "I've been on a training trip with Oyaji since I
was five," Ranma began with the air of someone beginning a long
tale.
     
     "I know," said Ranko.
     
     "Oh?  From mom?"  At Ranko's nod, he continued.  "Well, we
ended up in China.  We visited a place called Jusenkyou.
     
     "It's a big collection of cursed springs, though we didn't
know that when we went there.  If you fall in a spring, you get
cursed.  Oyaji knocked me into Nyanniichuan."
     
     Ranko frowned.  "Spring of the, um, drowned young girl...?"
     
     Ranma nodded.  "Yeah.  When I get hit with cold water I turn
female; hot water makes me a guy again."
     
     Ranko's eyes went big as pie plates again.  "Wow," she
breathed.  "How cool!"
     
     Both Akane and Ranma tripped over nothing, face-faulting
viciously with hands spread in the promise pose.  Pushing himself
up from the floor, Ranma looked at Ranko incredulously.
"*Cool*?"
     
     "Yeah!"  A mischievous smile gave her a roguish appearance.
"I wonder what it'd be like to be a guy?  To do it as a guy?" she
said to herself.  The others at the table heard her, though, and
reactions varied.  Ranma and Akane were stunned, whereas Kasumi
smiled gently.
     
     Ranma shook his head, convinced that this girl was seriously
weird.  "You sure you're really my sister?" he asked cautiously.
     
     "I didn't know you existed until last Monday, when Mother
told me," said Ranko.
     
     "Oh, that was the weekend when Saotome-obasama visited us,"
said Kasumi brightly.
     
     Ranma looked hesitant.  "It's just that I don't remember
having a sister at all," he said.
     
     Akane shook her head impatiently.  "Mouu... Ranma, you had
difficulty remembering Ryouga when he came to school, and he'd
been your friend in junior high!  *And* you had to be reminded
that you had a mother at all!"
     
     "Tadaima!" called a voice from the hallway, just as Ranma
came around the table to face Ranko.
     
     "I have a sister," he breathed, a little catch in his voice.
     
     "Oniichan!" said Ranko as she dived into his wonderful,
strong embrace.  Her earlier uncertainty had gone.  He was so
solid, he smelled so masculine, she thought she would just melt.
Or something, she added to herself as a decidedly unsisterly
stirring tingled through her from the contact.
     
     "Two Ranmas?" asked a sardonic voice from the hallway.
"Lemme guess.  Ranma found a cure for the curse but it split him
into two beings, one male and one female, and as a side-effect
the two halves are tremendously attracted to each other."
     
     "Welcome home, Nabiki," said Kasumi.  "This is Ranma's
sister, Ranko."
     
     Ranko turned her head within Ranma's embrace, and caught her
breath.  Nabiki was beautiful; her dark brown hair cut in a bob,
her breasts not a match for her own but nicely shaped and, she
was glad to notice, proudly displayed with an upright posture.
Ranko decided that she was in love all over again.  'Just what I
need to get over Hatsuko,' she thought to herself.  'I wonder
which way she goes?'  Ranko watched Nabiki unashamedly as she
moved to take a closer look at the new arrival.
     
     "Well, she certainly looks the part," said Nabiki with
something that wasn't quite a sardonic grin.  She turned to
Kasumi and said, "Oneechan, whose are that backpack and bag out
by the gate?"
     
     Kasumi looked surprised.  "Backpack?"
     
     "Oh, they'd be mine," said Ranko, disengaging herself from
Ranma.  "I guess I'd better bring them in."
     
     Ranma jumped up.  "I'll do it," he said and dashed outside.
He was back in moments, and Ranko was amazed to see him
nonchalantly carrying her heavy pack as though it was empty.  He
put both bags gently on the floor.
     
     "What've you got in there, sis?" he asked as he resumed his
seat by Akane.  "Rocks?"
     
     "No..."  Ranko suddenly felt oddly reluctant to speak, now
that she was about to impose herself on some people she'd never
even met before.  Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  She
put on a bright face and continued in something resembling her
usual bright manner.  "They're just my clothes and so on."
     
     Ranma looked surprised as Kasumi gently poked the pack.
"You must have a lot of clothes," she said, looking over at
Ranko.  "Why do you have so many with you?"
     
     "I've left home," said Ranko.  "I... I was kinda hoping I
could stay with you and pop, Oniichan."
     
     Her suggestion was greeted with silence.  Ranko looked
around the room.  Kasumi looked a little uncertain, Ranma looked
decidedly nervous again, Akane seemed eager, and Nabiki's
expression was unreadable... but she sure wasn't smiling.
Ranko's heart fell.  "I guess not, eh?" she said at last, moving
to get up.
     
     Ranma seemed to shake himself, and hurried to stop her.
"Ahh... what about mom?" he asked.
     
     Ranko's expression hardened.  "What *about* her?  She can
rot in hell as far as I'm concerned."  She then looked at Ranma
curiously, and her next words were derailed by Ranma's shocked
expression.  "What?"
     
     "'Rot in hell?'  Whadda ya mean, 'rot in hell'!  Mom's...
well, she's mom!"
     
     Akane stopped Ranma with a hand on his arm.  "Ranma...
remember why you're hiding from your mother?"
     
     "Yeah.  If she finds out I turn into a girl I'll have to...
oh."
     
     "Have to what?" asked Ranko, her own momentary anger at her
mother overridden by her brother's curious reaction.
     
     Ranma looked awkward, but there was no help forthcoming from
the Tendous.  Eventually he looked Ranko in the eye and said,
bitterly, "I found out on Saturday that my shit-stupid father
made a promise when he took me away on this training trip.  Mom
didn't want him to take me away.  But he insisted, and promised
that he would make me a man amoung men, or we would both commit
seppuku.  He even drew up a contract."  Ranma grabbed a handy
glass of water and tossed it on his head.  Now female, once again
Ranko's twin, she -- no, he -- continued, "How can *this* be
manly?
     
     "It hadn't even occurred to me that I might have a mother
until I went to the cemetery with the Tendous on Saturday to pray
for their mother at the family memorial.  A little later, Mom
showed up.  Father forced me to introduce myself as Ranko, not
Ranma, and to hide behind my curse.  Then I found out about the
promise, and I had to continue to..."
     
     "Shit," said Ranko without passion.  "I can just see her
enforcing something like that, too."  She smiled at Ranma wryly.
"I was all set to ask you why it was that mom said that my twin
was *Tendo Ranko*, not you in your... um, your girl form.  I
guess I can understand why now."  As she watched Ranma, Ranko
felt her heart go out to her brother.  Sister.  Twin.  Whatever.
"I guess neither of our parents is a prize, Oniichan," she
finished softly.
     
     She and Ranma shared a sad look with each other that somehow
conveyed understanding.
     
     The moment was broken when a hand laid on her shoulder.  She
looked around, surprised, to see that it was Akane standing next
to her.  Seeing Ranko look up with big eyes, Akane smiled and
said, "You do martial arts, don't you?"
     
     Confused at the sudden change of tack, Ranko could only nod.
"A little."
     
     "Would you like to see the dojo?"
     
     Ranko perked up, and Ranma jumped up and stepped toward the
door leading outside.  "Yeah!  Come on!"
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     Saotome Nodoka returned from her shopping to find the
apartment silent and empty.  Efficiently she put away the
groceries, then grabbed the lovely green jumper she had bought
for Ranko, to put it in her room.
     
     She found that the bed was stripped and the cupboard doors
hanging open to reveal... nothing. Most of Ranko's clothes and
other small posessions were *gone*, including her schoolbooks.
     
     "Oh, no."  Suddenly feeling tired and depressed, Nodoka sat
listlessly on the end of Ranko's bed.  She looked at the pillow
that rested, carelessly discarded, against the bedhead and tried
to beat down the rising wave of emotional pain that rose in her
chest and threatened to spill over as tears.
     
     First Ranma, now Ranko.  Nodoka lifted her hands and head
towards the ceiling, wordlessly wondering if she had somehow
offended the...  Nodoka's thoughts suddenly changed tracks.
     
     Ranma.  Ever since she had heard about Ranma, that dreadful
night, Ranko had been almost a model daughter -- compliant,
quiet, and obedient.  She had even re-dyed her hair, returning it
to its natural dark tones.
     
     In retrospect, such behaviour was quite abnormal, though she
had been too happy at the restoration of 'normal' family
relations to notice it at the time.  She must have been planning
this since then, Nodoka realised.  Ranko was normally the
embodiment of her name.
     
     She reflected that things had really only seriously gone
wrong in the last two or three years, but Nodoka suspected that
Ranko had always secretly hated the traditionalist upbringing she
had tried to give her.  Perhaps seven is too late to start to
train a child, she mused sadly.
     
     With a mental jerk she dragged her thoughts around to the
problem at hand.  Ranko must have gone to the Tendous, Nodoka
reflected.  The timing was a dead giveaway.  Quickly she gathered
her things, packing a small overnight bag.  She prayed that the
Tendous had not turned her daughter away, sending her off into
the unknown vastness of the city.
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     Ranko discovered that the dojo was the second, traditional-
looking building which she had noticed earlier, when she first
came.  It was connected to the house by a covered walkway.  A
discreet sign inside the gate pointed the way, away from the
private residence, to the large dojo.
     
     Inside the dojo, Akane and Ranko stood half-facing each
other.  Ranko was looking around, admiring the spartan
purposefulness of the dojo, her eyes resting finally on the large
inspirational motto framed on one wall of the dojo.  Ranma, once
again male, stood next to Akane.
     
     "So, what kind of martial arts do you do?  Do you do kenpo?"
asked Akane at last.
     
     "Ah, no, not really.  I know karate and kendo and a few
others, though."  A shadow passed across her face, followed by a
wicked smile.  "Mom resisted like hell, but I told her I was
going to learn martial arts with or without her blessing."  Ranko
smiled slightly at a memory.  "She didn't like that at *all*."
     
     "Would you like a little match then?" asked Akane.  "Nothing
serious, just sparring."
     
     Ranma was struck by the parallelism to the time he first
came to the dojo.  He kept his mouth shut just in time, instead
smiling wryly to himself even as he wondered what he could learn
about Akane from this observation.
     
     Ranko nodded eagerly.  "Okay, you're on."  Smiling happily,
she quickly did some flexing exercises to make sure her jeans
would not hinder her.  She had already kicked off her shoes at
the dojo's door after slipping them on for the short trip across
the yard from the house; she now removed her socks as well to
ensure good grip on the wooden floor.  Her leather jacket and cap
she had left inside the house, with her pack.
     
     Ranma leaned against the dojo wall by the door, watching
curiously.  He wondered whether Ranko would be able to beat
Akane.  He admitted that it was unlikely.  For all his
superiority over her, Akane was still a very good fighter, better
than the vast bulk of martial artists.  Given the way his mother
seemed to feel about ladylike behaviour, he figured it was
unlikely Ranko was any good.  He was amazed that she had had a
chance to practice martial arts at all.
     
     Akane finished stripping off her own socks and her jumper
and took stance in the middle of the floor.  Ranko stepped up
opposite her, and bowed before taking stance.
     
     Nothing happened.  Ranma wondered at the delay until Akane
glanced crossly at him.  He started, realising the reason the two
girls were waiting.
     
     "Begin!" he called formally.
     
     For a long moment the two girls were still, then they rushed
together, each moving in attack.
     
     Ranma watched with interest.  Ranko started by using the
long, formal moves of Shotokan karate, but as Akane pressured her
she began to add in other stuff... some aikido, mostly, he
thought.  They were both about as fast as each other, and as
Akane landed a few light blows to Ranko he was glad to see that
his sister wasn't put off by Akane's superiority; instead, she
just grinned and launched another attack.
     
     Watching Akane for a moment, Ranma was a little surprised to
see that she, too, was showing joy in her fighting.  She wasn't
showing any of the anger that normally marked her fights with him
and others... why, he wondered?
     
     Just then Ranko tapped the mat.  Ranma looked over in
surprise to see Akane getting up off Ranko, a look of
satisfaction on her face.  Ranko lay there a moment as she worked
her arm to shake out some residual soreness from Akane's
submission move.
     
     Ranko got up, bowed briefly to Akane, then faced Ranma.  Her
face glowed from the exertion, Ranma saw, and trickles of sweat
decorated her face.  Akane, too, was sweating a little, but she
was not obviously winded.
     
     "How about you, oniichan?" she asked.  "I imagine you're
pretty good."
     
     Ranma nodded.  "I've been training all my life."
     
     "Are you as good as Akane here?"  She took a basic stance,
grinning at the way Ranma reacted.  He now stood upright, not
obviously in stance but definitely not as casual as he had been,
Ranko noted.  She smiled to herself.  She was absolutely sure
that Ranma would be able to whip her ass, so to speak, but she
wanted to spar with him, see him in action.
     
     "Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, grinning.
"Afraid I'll beat you?"
     
     Ranma snorted.  "Hardly."
     
     "So?  Are you gonna spar with me or not?"
     
     He shook his head.  "No way.  I don't hit girls."
     
     Ranko's eyes flashed.  "Oh really?"  She ran towards him,
leaping into a flying kick... not something she would have tried
from a cold start against Akane, but she was sure he could avoid
it.
     
     What she didn't expect was for him not to be there at all.
She scrambled to cushion her impact with the wall Ranma had been
standing in front of and fell to the floor in a heap.  She got up
to see him standing behind her, balancing on the balls of his
feet, smirking.  That smirk filled Ranko with determination, and
she launched herself at him again.
     
     Akane watched as Ranma dodged cleanly around Ranko, avoiding
all her punches and kicks, floating around her with ease.  In a
way it was beautiful to watch, but she also could feel for Ranko,
who was getting more and more frustrated.  When finally she
overbalanced on a punch and was on the verge of tripping over,
Ranma tapped her on the back of her head and then stepped back,
smiling.
     
     Ranko stared at Ranma, puffing.  She was frustrated at not
being able to even touch him, but had to respect his obvious
ability.  "You're pretty good, oniichan," she said at last.
     
     Ranma smiled and nodded.  "Thanks."
     
     "I've got one question, though?  Why didn't you attack me at
all?  You just let me wear myself out."
     
     He shrugged.  "I told you before, I don't hit girls."
     
     Ranko just shook her head.  "Why on earth not?"
     
     "I.. it's just... it's just *wrong*!"  Ranma was obviously
flustered now.
     
     "You didn't seem to have a problem defeating Shampoo in the
Joketsuzoku village," put in Akane, stepping up near Ranko.
     
     "I *had* to!  That doesn't mean I liked it!  I mean, I
knocked her out as gently as I could!  Did I break anything?  And
besides, I figure I was lucky it wasn't--"  Ranma cut himself off
and looked sullen.
     
     For a long moment there was silence as Ranko regarded Ranma.
At last she shook her head and said, "Ranma-oniichan... you're a
macho twit, just like most of the males in creation.  You seem to
be a great martial artist, but what if you want to teach a girl?
What then?"  She watched the confusion creep across Ranma's face,
then blew her breath out in a huff.  "Gods, what a moron."
     
     "Hey, I--!"
     
     "Ranko?" asked Akane.  "Would you like a bath?  You're
pretty sweaty."
     
     Ranko turned to Akane, ignoring Ranma.  "I'd love one," she
said with a smile.  "I was hoping I might get a little training
out of Martial Artist-sama here, but I can see he needs a big
attitude adjustment first.  Let's go."
     
     "Hey, is anyone gonna listen to me?!"
     
     Akane stopped just inside the doorway.  "Ranma, you idiot!"
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     "I'm sorry about Ranma.  He's a total jerk."
     
     Ranko tipped back her head and shook her short hair out as
she plied a sponge over her neck.  She looked to her side to
where Akane sat on her bathstool.  Soap suds dripped white
against the smooth golden skin of Akane's back as she ran her
washcloth over her shoulder.
     
     She took her eyes away from Akane for the moment, closing
them as she rinsed herself.  With a sigh, she got up and stepped
into the hot furo.  "You aren't responsible for him," she said as
she relaxed, allowing the heat of the water to soak into herself.
     
     Splashing water drew Ranko's eyes to the other girl.  She
watched, not attempting to hide her observation, as Akane stepped
into the furo opposite her.  After a few brief moments of contact
as Akane's legs ran into her own, all was quiet.
     
     "He's still a jerk."
     
     Ranko tipped back her head and closed her eyes.  "Yeah, I
guess.  He's certainly got some thinking to do if he wants to
teach.  But... he's also just about the sexiest guy I've ever
seen."
     
     Expecting agreement, Ranko was surprised when silence echoed
from the other side of the furo.  She opened her eyes again and
lowered her head so she could see Akane.  To her intense surprise
the Tendo girl was staring at her with suspicion.  Ranko frowned
in confusion.  "What's wrong?  Did I say something wrong?"
     
     "You're not some undiscovered fiancee of his?"
     
     Ranko laughed.  "I wish!  Boy, what I wouldn't give to have
that specimen of manhood."  She sighed theatrically.  "But I'm
his sister, so I guess he's off limits."  She pouted.  "Pity."
She adjusted the cloth on her head.  "So, you're his girlfriend
then?"
     
     A loud splash greeted this comment, and Ranko was amazed to
see Akane nearly slip beneath the water's surface.  "No," she
said at last.  "I'm his *fiancee*.  One of them, at least."
     
     It was Ranko's turn to nearly slip beneath the water's
surface.  "One of them?!"  She sat up straight, chortling.
"*One* of them?  My brother the Casanova!  There might be hope
for him yet!"
     
     Akane slapped the water.  "It's not funny!"
     
     Ranko looked at her curiously.  "For someone who's a fiancee
of the sexiest guy I've ever seen, you don't seem very happy
about it."
     
     "It's arranged."
     
     "Oh?"
     
     "His father and my father.  Before we were born, when they
were training together, they decided that the families would be
joined to carry on the Art."
     
     "Art?"
     
     "Musabetsu kakutou."
     
     "Oh.  So you don't like him?"
     
     Again, Ranko was greeted by silence.  She smiled to herself
when she saw that Akane could not meet her eyes.
     
     "You do, don't you?"
     
     "He's a pervert and a womanizer!  I hate him!"
     
     Ranko dipped the washcloth she had perched on her head in a
handy bucket of cold water and replaced it.  "Really?  If that's
true, why are you jealous?"
     
     "I'm not jealous!"
     
     "Then why are you bothered if he's a womanizer, as you say?
Or if he has another fiancee?  If you really don't want to marry
him, you should be glad."
     
     Silence was, once again, Akane's reply.  Ranko saw that she
seemed to find great interest in the lapping of water against the
bath's edge.  Deciding to defer asking Akane any more about what
sounded like an unbelievable situation, she sighed again
theatrically.
     
     "I'm jealous.  Pity he's my brother."  She smiled wistfully.
"So, what's the talent like around here?"
     
     "Talent?"
     
     "Boys.  Are there any good boys around who're unattached?"
     
     Akane snorted.  "You've gotta be joking.  All the boys
around here are jerks."
     
     Ranko raised one eyebrow as a possible explanation for
Akane's rather extreme reactions occurred to her.  "I see.  What
about girls?"
     
     "Eh?  What do you mean?"
     
     "I'm bisexual.  Are there any good unattached girls around
who go that way?"  Ranko ignored Akane's sudden wide-eyed
stillness and continued, "How about Nabiki?  Which way does she
go?  Does she have a boyfriend?  A girlfriend?"
     
     Akane backed up against the side of the furo, shrinking away
from Ranko, one hand covering her breasts under the water.  "Wha-
what?  Y-you're..."
     
     Ranko giggled, then laughed in sheer delight.  Akane stopped
backing away at the sound of Ranko's laughter, then began to get
angry.
     
     "Are you making fun of me?" she asked, frowning.
     
     Ranko shook her head, covering her mouth in an attempt to
suppress her giggles.  Finally she took a deep breath and managed
to speak.  "You should've *seen* your face."  She grinned
wickedly, then removed the washcloth from her head and stood
upright.  Cupping her breasts, she said, "Don't worry, Akane.
We're both girls, aren't we?  See?  I've got these."  She
gingerly sat back down into the steaming hot water.
     
     Akane relaxed.  "That doesn't mean much with Ranma around,"
she said lightly.  "And you look so much like him it's scary."
     
     "Well, we *are* twins."  Ranko frowned briefly.  "At least
that's what mom says, anyway."  She retrieved her washcloth,
dipped it into cold water again, and replaced it on her head.
     
     Silence reigned for a time.  Akane refreshed her washcloth
and replaced it, then spoke.  "So... you were kidding earlier?"
     
     "Eh?  About what?"
     
     "Being... you know."
     
     Ranko giggled again.  "Bisexual?"
     
     Akane nodded, thankful that her face was already flushed
from the heat of the furo.  "Yes."
     
     "Nope."
     
     "What?"  Akane began to pull away again.
     
     Ranko sighed in resignation.  "I don't bite, Akane.  What's
your problem, anyway?"
     
     "Err... nothing really."
     
     "Do you think I'm gonna rape you in the tub?"  Ranko
snorted.  "Don't be ridiculous.  I'm not a sex manic *or* a
pervert.  I just like to enjoy myself."
     
     Akane just shook her head and shrugged, but she relaxed a
little.  Ranko tilted her head as a thought occurred to her,
ignoring Akane's slightly awkward expression.  "Say, that reminds
me.  Tell me about Ranma-oniichan.  Why do you call him a
pervert?  Does he go around sniffing used underwear or
something?"
     
     "That's what that old freak Happousai does, and Ranma hates
him for it."
     
     "Who's he?"
     
     "He's an old pervert.  He trained our fathers, and he's
absolutely impossible!"
     
     "He can't be that bad."
     
     "You have no idea."
     
     Silence fell once again, broken by the sounds of the house
around them.  Then Ranko spoke again.
     
     "So, is Nabiki taken?"
     
     Akane looked at Ranko quizzically, but eventually shook her
head.  "She doesn't go out with anyone."
     
     "Do you know if she...?"
     
     "Eeew, I hope not, my own sister...  Err, oops.  Sorry."
     
     Ranko smiled.  "You know, I would have thought that you'd at
least be used to the idea by now."
     
     Water slopped over the edge of the furo with a splash as
Akane jerked in surprise.  "Eh?"
     
     "Well, Ranma's both, you know."
     
     "So?"
     
     "Well, if you marry him..."
     
     Akane was unable to meet Ranko's eyes and looked away.
"Like I'd want to do that with him," she said.
     
     Ranko drew her breath in a silent 'Ah' of understanding.
She stood up, water sheeting off her body to fall back into the
furo.  The water rocked as wavelets bounced back and forth inside
the tub.  "I'm done, I think.  Much more and I'll be a noodle."
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     The gate tinkled, and Kasumi looked up from her tea.
"That's probably father," she said to the others who had once
again gathered around the table.
     
     Steps sounded, the front door opened, and a loud male voice
called out cheerily, "Tadaima!"
     
     "Welcome home, Otousan, Ojisama," said Kasumi with what
sounded like relief in her voice.
     
     Ranko saw two men enter the living room and stop, stock
still, in shock.  One was tall with long, black hair.  He wore a
dark grey gi and bore a family resemblance to the three Tendou
girls.
     
     The other man was shorter, with a stocky build... though not
fat.  He seemed to be quite bald, though it was impossible to be
certain with the white headscarf he wore.  Glasses were held to
his head by sports frames, and he wore an old, spotted,
traditional white gi.  She wondered on several levels whether
this man could possibly be her father.
     
     "What is this, Ranma?" asked the man in the gi, looking
unerringly at her brother, who was at that moment female as a
result of an argument with Akane which had culminated in her
tossing him into the koi pond.
     
     "Ranma found a mirror in an old haunted house that produces
a copy of anyone who touches it," said Nabiki with a straight
face.
     
     Soun's jaw dropped.  "Really?" he asked.
     
     Nabiki laughed, a short, choppy sound.  "I was just joking,
father.  This is Ranma's sister."
     
     Both Soun and the man in white, whom Ranko decided to call
Genma for now for the sake of her sanity, laughed heartily.
Genma even went so far as to slap his hand to his thigh and wipe
tears from his eyes.  When he looked at her with no recognition
in his eyes, a terrible doubt began to rise in her.
     
     "That was a good one, Nabiki," said Soun at last.
     
     "Ye-heah," guffawed Genma.
     
     The stillness of the teenagers was absolute.  Being highly-
trained martial artists, Soun and Genma both had keen senses of
the environment and it didn't take them long to notice that
everyone was staring at Genma warily.  "What?" he asked
defiantly.
     
     Ranma-onna took an aggressive step forward.  "Whadda ya
mean, 'what', ya rotten old fart?  I've had a sister all this
time and you never told me!"
     
     Genma looked at Ranma blankly, then at Ranko.  "What are you
talking about, boy?  You don't have a sister."
     
     Ranko looked at Genma in absolute horror.  "What do you
mean, he doesn't have a sister?!"
     
     Genma regarded Ranko calmly.  "Ranma is an only child."
Seeing her open her mouth to further argue, he added, "I think
I'd know if Ranma had a sister."
     
     The looks on the family ranged from mistrustful to confused,
Ranko noted. Except for Ranma.  Her twin looked at her balefully,
almost as though she were an enemy, before grabbing her -- no,
his -- tea cup and flinging the contents at her.  She flinched at
the contact of the warm liquid.
     
     "What was that for?" she asked, more puzzled than hurt by
the sudden change of attitude.  Ranma didn't answer, instead
dashing into the kitchen.  Ranko unconsciously followed the
movement of Ranma's obviously-unrestrained breasts as she watched
her -- no, him, she reminded herself again -- as he moved.  Her
heart wasn't in the observation, however.  Her mind was spinning,
trying to deal with the possibility that this was all a terrible
mistake.
     
     Ranma, now male, stepped out of the kitchen again a moment
later.  Water gleamed, dribbling down his face, and he appeared
to be holding something behind his back.  Ranko stared at him,
utterly confused by his strange behaviour, even as Akane moved
away a little from her.
     
     She watched Ranma stand over her and hold a large container
over her head.  Somehow it was all so unreal that she only just
had time to close her eyes as he deliberately poured hot but not
scalding water over her head.
     
     The water cooled as it ran down through her hair and down
her face and back, but it still felt warm as it ran down her
spine and dripped off her nose.  Her eyes flew open as she
finally figured out why Ranma had done this apparently-senseless
thing to her.
     
     She opened her mouth to speak, but Ranma wasn't looking at
her.  His attention was directed towards his father, his face
almost a snarl.
     
     "She hasn't been to Jusenkyou.  Why should I believe you,
old man?" he spat.
     
     Genma glared at his son.  "Have respect for your elders,
boy!"
     
     "They *do* look remarkably similar," put in Kasumi
helpfully.  "Are you sure you're not mistaken, Ojisama?"
     
     Genma's expression softened a little, becoming serious.
Apparently ignoring Kasumi, he looked Ranma right in the eyes.
"Ranma, I swear to you... as far as I know, you do not have a
sister, *or* a brother... especially one of your own age."
     
     Ranma felt profoundly sad at his father's pronouncement.  He
had so hoped....  Almost without volition he looked to Ranko,
whom he saw appeared to be devastated.  She bowed, her face
wooden but with her eyes brimming with tears.  "I... I'm very
sorry to have intruded," she said formally.  "I won't--"
     
     The bell of the gate tinkled once again.  "Gomen
kudasaaaai!"
     
     Genma blanched and tackled Ranma, taking him with him into
the pond.  Ranko blanched.  "Oh, no," she said.  She felt
trapped, though underneath it all perhaps a little relieved.  How
ever her mother had found her so quickly, they would be able to
sort out this mess once and for all.
     
     "Oh, it's Nodoka-obasama," said Kasumi cheerfully as Nodoka
let herself into the house.
     
     Nodoka noted Ranko's presence without satisfaction.  She saw
that *Tendou* Ranko-chan and Panda-chan were just climbing out of
the lovely koi pond that was the garden's centerpiece.  She told
herself that she would have to scold the girl for her tomboyish
tendency to get wet when the opportunity presented herself...
poor girl, she was so lacking in the feminine graces.  She knelt
at the table and bowed to Soun in greeting.  "Good day, Tendou-
san," she said calmly.
     
     Kasumi handed a fluffy towel to the dripping Ranma and
returned to her place at the table.
     
     "Good day, Nodoka-san," said Soun.  "You are well, I trust?"
     
     Ignoring the voices of the adults as they went through the
usual exchange of pleasantries, Akane noted Ranko's nervousness
and sat next to her supportively.  She gestured to Ranma to come
over.
     
     Ranma-onna, known to Nodoka as "Tendou Ranko", came over to
sit with Akane and his sister.  He, too, noted her nervousness.
Feeling a sibling responsibility, he awkwardly put an arm around
her shoulders.  Ranko surprised him by leaning heavily into his
supportive embrace.  Akane smiled at him and nodded, something
which also surprised him.  He had half expected her to be
jealous, as usual.
     
     Nodoka and Soun had finished their introductory
pleasantries, and she was now looking over at the two Rankos.  It
took her a moment to realise that the one doing the embracing was
Tendou Ranko, not her daughter.  She hoped that her daughter had
not met a kindred spirit.  Then things could get... complicated.
She was glad to see that the girl's pet panda was in the yard
where he belonged rather than in the house.
     
     "So, Saotome Nodoka-san... regrettably, Ranma-kun and
Saotome-kun are on a training trip at the moment," said Soun,
distracting her.
     
     "That *is* regrettable," said Nodoka.  "However, I actually
came here looking for my daughter."
     
     "Ah... Her name is also Ranko?"
     
     "That's right.  I can see that she's here."
     
     "Quite.  Err, if you don't mind my asking, Nodoka-san, I
wasn't aware that you and Genma also had a daughter?"
     
     "We do.  She is Ranma's twin."  Nodoka looked over to the
three girls huddled in the corner of the room and frowned in
thought.  "I'm rather surprised at the resemblance between Tendou
Ranko and my daughter.  One would think that *they* were twins.
Had you noticed, Tendou-san?"
     
     "It's very curious, isn't it?  How strange life is."  He
laughed weakly.
     
     "It is indeed, isn't it?" replied Nodoka, also laughing
politely.
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     Ranma, Ranko, and Akane stood around Genma-panda who was
cowering in the middle of the dojo.  Ranma was in his female
form.
     
     "So, you were lyin' again weren't you, you old bastard?"
accused Ranma.
     
     "How could you do such a cruel thing, ojisan?!" asked Akane.
"Poor Ranko!"
     
     Ranko said nothing but looked sad.  The giant panda held up
a sign.
     
     "[Ranma is an only child!]" said the sign.  "[I could have
sworn]," it said on the other side.
     
     "Yeah, well, mom sure doesn't think so.  And we could be
identical twins when I'm wet."  Ranma-onna turned to Ranko.  "You
*sure* you wanna hook up with us?  I mean, look at what I've
gotta deal with."
     
     Ranko looked sad.  "I always thought that I was adopted
until mom slipped the other day and told me I was actually her
daughter.  I think I'll stay here."
     
     Gasps greeted this pronouncement.  Both Ranma and Akane were
staring at Ranko with wide eyes.  "You're kidding," breathed
Akane.  "Why would she do a thing like that?"
     
     "I asked her why, and she just asked me not to ask."
     
     "Well that's not just strange, it's downright bizarre," came
Nabiki's voice.  She looked at the signs still being held up by
the panda that was Genma.  She stepped into the dojo and strode
over to where the others stood around Genma.  "You're absolutely
certain, ojisan?"
     
     A new sign.  "[I lived with Nodoka until Ranma was 5 and
there was no daughter.]"
     
     "Hmm.  A paradox.  How nice."  Nabiki bowed her head in
thought.
     
     "What do you mean, Oneechan?" asked Akane.
     
     "Ojisan says Ranma is an only child, and lived there for at
least six years in addition to siring Ranma so he ought to know.
Obasan says that Ranko is Ranma's twin sister.  For that to be
true she would have had to have been born at the same time as
Ranma, obviously, but apparently that's not possible.  Hmm... and
Ranko and Ranma look so much alike that it definitely supports
Nodoka-obasan's statement.
     
     "Either Ojisan is lying, or there's something *very* strange
going on."
     
     "[I'm not lying!]"
     
     Ranma-onna bopped his father on the head.  "Yeah, right!"
     
     Nabiki looked at Genma cowering on the floor and shook her
head.  "I don't think he's lying.  How interesting."
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     Ranko knocked on Nabiki's bedroom door.  "Come in," called
Nabiki after a moment.
     
     Entering, Ranko closed the door behind herself.  Nabiki's
room was smallish and somewhat cramped, furnished as it was with
a bed, a desk and chair, bookshelves, and a wardrobe.  Nabiki was
lying on her bed, a manga open in front of her as she did leg
exercises.
     
     Ranko stepped into the room and sat easily on the floor
facing the bed.
     
     "What can I do for you?" asked Nabiki, not stopping her leg
lifts.  Ranko noted that she was smiling faintly.  She gave
Nabiki a dazzling smile.
     
     "I just wanted to thank you for helping out with this
business."
     
     Nabiki stopped her exercises and rolled on her side, facing
Ranko.  She began doing side leg lifts.  "I hate paradoxes," she
said after a moment.  "But don't worry, I'll get my pound of
flesh."
     
     Ranko raised her eyebrow at the phrase.  She watched Nabiki
doing her exercises for a moment, noting the pleasant shape of
her legs and the way her breasts bounced a little as she moved.
"You're very flexible."
     
     It was Nabiki's turn to raise an eyebrow.  She hadn't missed
the path of Ranko's gaze.  "Years of practice," she said after a
momentary hesitation.  She added, "You surprise me."
     
     "I do?"
     
     "From the way you were reacting with Ranma this afternoon, I
though you'd be a boy toy."
     
     Ranko grinned.  "That too."
     
     "Is that so?"
     
     Ranko nodded and leaned forward.  "It looks like mom's gonna
stay overnight, and I don't wanna have to sleep with her.  I was
wondering..."
     
     Nabiki looked Ranko over carefully even as she carefully
weighed her options.  She wasn't really all that keen on having
the girl share her room.  She slightly resented the intrusion
into her personal space.  Also, she had her records in this room,
and she didn't want anyone prowling through her stuff.
     
     Still, she was aware of how tight the accomodation situation
was in the house at the moment.  If she refused Ranko, she would
probably cause her to end up with Kasumi, so Ranko would at least
have a place to sleep, but... well, she would be a very good way
to get some inside information on Saotome Nodoka, she told
herself.  "Sure."
     
     "Thanks!"
     
     There was a knocking at the door, and Kasumi poked her head
in.  "Ah, Ranko-chan, I've just been trying to decide where to
put you for tonight."
     
     "She may as well stay with me, oneechan," said Nabiki.
     
     Kasumi smiled at Nabiki.  "That's very generous of you,
Nabiki.  I'll bring in some bedding for Ranko."
     
     
     
     *    *    *
     
     
     
     With the futon spread on the floor of her room, Nabiki
noted, there really wasn't much room to move.  She had announced
her intention to go to bed a few minutes ago, and suiting action
to words had come upstairs.  Ranko had disappeared into the
bathroom, presumably to clean her teeth.  Nabiki quickly changed
for bed, taking advantage of the younger girl's temporary absence
to dress in privacy.  She would never have admitted it, but Ranko
made her just a little nervous.
     
     The door slid gently open just as she was slipping into bed.
Glancing over her shoulder she saw it was Ranko, so she finished
slipping into bed.  Turning on her bedside lamp so Ranko wouldn't
be blind when she turned out the main light, Nabiki settled down
to watch.
     
     Ranko retrieved a clean pair of underpants and an old tee-
shirt from her pack, together with a small translucent plastic
laundry bag.  Nabiki watched as Ranko stripped off methodically,
finally placing her used panties into the laundry bag and sealing
it.
     
     Nabiki noted that Ranko's figure seemed identical to
Ranma's, then corrected herself.  Ranma's girl figure was
different, a little.  As Ranko, still nude, began to neatly fold
her clothes and put them into her pack, Nabiki tried to recall
there differences but couldn't quite pin it down.  Maybe they
just moved differently.
     
     Finally finished, Ranko slipped on her tee shirt and fresh
panties and turned out the room light before slipping under the
covers of her futon.  She had allowed the tee shirt to ride up as
she got in, and wriggled delightfully at the sensation of the
crisp coolness of the cotton against her bare skin.
     
     It was quiet in Nabiki's bedroom for a time.  Downstairs the
TV was playing, but that was the only sound.  Ranko smiled as she
luxuriated in the simple comfort of her futon, which was now
warming from her body heat.  Briefly she fondled her nipples
which were still stiff from the initial coolness of the bedding,
and she decided to go for broke.  The fact that Nabiki's bedside
light was still on but that Nabiki wasn't reading told her that
the elder girl probably wanted to talk.
     
     "Nabiki?"
     
     "Yes?"
     
     "Thank you for letting me stay here tonight."
     
     "That's okay.  Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
     
     Ranko looked up at Nabiki's bed.  Nabiki was lying on her
front and was resting her chin on the backs of her interlaced
fingers, looking down over the edge of her bed at her.  Ranko
smiled.  "Sure."
     
     "Do you remember Ranma from your childhood?"
     
     Ranko closed her eyes again and her brows knit in
concentration.  Finally she let out her breath noisily.  "Nope."
     
     "You must have had baby photos at home?"
     
     Nabiki smiled internally as Ranko stared at her in horrified
disbelief.  "I can't *believe* I never asked mom about that," she
said ruefully.  "I don't know.  I've never seen any."
     
     "I see.  Why did you want to run away from home?  You were
taking a pretty big risk that we might not take you in, or that
Ranma and Ojisan wouldn't be here."
     
     "Because I couldn't stand mom any more.  This business about
finding out that I was actually her daughter by blood when she
had been telling me that I was adopted all these years was merely
the last straw."
     
     Nabiki was stunned by the ready facility with which Ranko
answered the question.  She didn't seem the least bit
embarrassed.
     
     "What do you mean?"
     
     Ranko sighed and lay back, looking at the ceiling lit only
by the dim reflected light from the solitary lamp.  "She's always
on about being womanly.  Her view of womanly.  Do this, don't do
that."  Ranko closed her eyes against the remembered anger that
simple statement had generated, and sighed.  Looking up at Nabiki
again, she continued, "Stuck up, narrow-minded old bint.  I
really, really hated it."
     
     "Oh."  Nabiki looked down at Ranko curiously, watching as
her face calmed.  She had obviously struck a raw nerve, but the
girl had surprised her by answering her anyway.  "Would you like
some photos of Ranma?"
     
     "Sure, I'd love some.  You have some?"
     
     "Yeah, I keep a stock of them.  Could I take some of you?"
     
     Ranko nodded.  "Sure.  What kind of shots?"
     
     "Oh, working out, in a tee shirt, a bikini if you have
one..."  Nabiki found her voice faltering.  She never hesitated
to take pictures showing the maximum amount of flesh possible,
but she had sensed that Ranko would actually pose for nude photos
if she asked her to.  But actually asking to do it was harder
than she had expected it to be.
     
     She felt Ranko's eyes on her.  She was smiling, she saw.
"You want nude photos, don't you?"
     
     Nabiki nodded, colouring a little.
     
     "I don't have a problem with that.  What do you want them
for?  Just for yourself?  Oh, hang on, you said you keep a
'stock' of photos of Ranma.  You sell them, don't you?"
     
     Nabiki nodded again, surprised by Ranko's perception.
Still, she should not have been surprised given the way they had
talked together earlier.  She berated herself for allowing
herself to be guided by prejudices.  But still... *this* girl was
Ranma's twin?  "Yes."
     
     "I thought so.  Sure, that's okay... but I get a cut of any
sales you make."  Ranko grinned.  "I'll even let my hair grow so
it'll be easier to pretend that I'm Ranma."
     
     "You're pretty smart.  And a cut of the profits, not the
income."
     
     "Thank you.  Sixty percent."
     
     "You're welcome.  I'm providing the marketing organization
and will be organizing the photos and so on.  Twenty-five
percent."
     
     "I have to eat and pay for lodging, and it's my body.  No
body, no photos.  Fifty percent."
     
     "I can get candid photos anyway.  Thirty percent."
     
     "Where do you sell them?  At school?  If I don't get forced
into going back with mom, I'll be going to the same school as
Ranma.  I'll have to deal with all the perverts who think that
just because I'm proud of my body I'm easy."
     
     "That won't really be a problem.  Once word gets around that
you're related to Ranma, they'll leave you alone.  Besides, most
of them will think the photos are *of* Ranma."
     
     "Leave me alone?  I wouldn't want that either.  I *like*
attention."
     
     "But you'll need protection, and I can get Ranma to give it
to you.  The male school body at Fuurinkan get more than a bit
obsessive."
     
     Ranko snorted.  "Don't be ridiculous, Nabiki.  Ranma is my
brother and he's a macho twit.  You wouldn't be able to *stop*
him from acting all protective.  The problem is going to be
getting him to let any guy get close enough to have fun with.
Fifty percent."
     
     Nabiki bit her tongue to stop herself from pointing out
Ranko's self-contradictory statements and thought about it.  If
she had a *cooperative* model, who could fake being Ranma...
Kunou would go absolutely wild, as would most of the rest of the
males at Fuurinkan, as well as some females.  Even at fifty
percent, there would be *lots* of money coming in, and she was
itching to settle and get on with making money.  Still, she
couldn't just give in.  "Forty percent."
     
     "Imagine what a *cooperative* model could do, Nabiki,"
purred Ranko.  "And *maybe* I can talk to Ranma about the
possibility of posing with me.  Fifty percent."
     
     Nabiki sighed and gave in.  "Okay, fifty percent of the
profits."  Nabiki straightened out in her bed, lying back with
her head on her pillow.  She turned out the bed-side lamp.
"You're a hard negotiator, Ranko."
     
     Ranko smiled into the darkness, letting one hand drift over
her panties.  "If you'd just wanted them for yourself, Nabiki, I
wouldn't have asked for anything.  I'd have done anything you
asked... bikini, nude, hentai, anything.  But if you're gonna
make money off me, it's only fair I get a share."
     
     Nabiki laughed softly.  "I should have said I wanted them
for myself, then."
     
     There was no immediate reply.  Nabiki moved around in her
bed, getting more comfortable, and the noise almost made her miss
Ranko's soft-voiced reply.
     
     "I'm glad you didn't do that," she said.  "I believe in
fairness, honesty, and openness.  I like both boys and girls, and
in fact I'm quite attracted to you, Nabiki.  But I'm not a toy
for you to play with, or a tool to just use and throw away.  If
you'd abused my trust, I would never have trusted you again, and
I'd hate that."
     
     In the echoing silence that followed, the sounds of the TV
being switched off and footsteps coming up the stairs penetrated
the quiet room.  Nabiki realised that she had a lot of thinking
to do.
     
     Footsteps echoed outside.  "Good night, Akane," said Ranma
with his usual energy.
     
     "Good night, Ranma," said Akane as she continued to her
room.  Her voice sounded a little wistful to Nabiki.
     
     Nabiki decided that further chat with Ranko could wait until
tomorrow; her eyelids were heavy.  "Good night, Ranko."
     
     Ranko giggled, surprising Nabiki.  "Guudo naito, Jon-boi,"
she said before giggling again.
     
     "What?"
     
     "Just a stupid TV show, Nabiki.  Good night.  Sweet dreams."
     
     "You too."
     
     Wondering just what the hell Ranko had been talking about,
Nabiki didn't even notice when she drifted off to sleep.
     
     
     
     
     
     -----------------------------------
     
     Author's Notes:
     
     Well, here I go again.  (Now *there's* a comment with some
history.)  This story has been a while in gestation, but finally
it's off and rolling.  I think that makes four stories on the go
at once now.  Silly me.
     
     This project started as an attempt to break writer's block
on the last part of Nekophobia.  I put out a "prologue" cum
announcement of concept a little while ago now on the FFML.
Well, as a cure for writer's block, it worked a little, but not
completely.  So I've gone ahead and fleshed that prologue out
into what you see before you, the full first part of Wild Child.
     
     "Wild Child" is a literal translation of the kanji that make
up Ranko's name.  The title for this part means "Who is this
child?" or, more poetically, "What child is this?" (though the
language is very informal so poeticism isn't something I think
when I read the title).
     
     Credit where credit is due:  I'd like to take a moment to
thank Andy Wennersten (MrNuke999@aol.com), who has (at the time
of this writing) written two parts of a lemon series called "Not
Ranma Half", which may also be known by some people as "The Lost
Sisters".  I got the idea of a wild, bisexual Ranko from reading
this story.  Thanks, Andy.
     
     Thanks also go to my usual gang-of-two pre-readers Chris
Jones (hamster@arn.net) and Bob Barnes (rbarnes@moscow.com) for
their commentary on the first version of this expanded first
part.  Thanks also to everyone who gave me feedback on the
original prologue of Wild Child.  There are too many of you to
list separately, but thank you all, and you know who you are.  It
all helped.
     
     I hope you enjoy this revamped and expanded Wild Child.
Commentary is most definitely invited.
     
     
     
     David Eddy -- dje@progress.com
http://nabiki.newberry.com/DEddy/