Ether Morph (Story in progress)

[Spokavriel]

What I mean is even with an Aura Mage Genn can't stock up enough to really endure doing those ether expensive transformations for any duration.

[LawOhki]

What I mean is even with an Aura Mage Genn can't stock up enough to really endure doing those ether expensive transformations for any duration.

They do get full ya know.

[borgrabbit]

At the half-lidded response she got from Rakshasa, she realized how silly the question was.

Uhhh, did you mean Ranma?
Or, (from the rakshasa, she realized)?
☺

[KonokoHasano]

Most likely 'the' Rakshasa. Those silly little mistakes. XD

[Spokavriel]

I liked how this went giving small parts of the chapter at a time as it progresses. But well I have trouble actually trying to go through and look for problems in it with it like this. I'm almost certain there was a place where hair was left out of a scene but well having to skip over responses so much makes it hard to keep track. I'll probably have to wait to go to the chapter as posted on Fanfiction.net and do that sort of thing from there then PM it in.

[KonokoHasano]

Yeah, I probably should have at least put a majority of it together in the first post. I could always go through and put the entire chapter here at the end later.

However, like I mentioned in the first post -- I think I did, -- I don't plan on uploading this story onto Fanfiction.net at the moment because it would make it seem as if I have to update this story as well. This is more like a side project I was working on to see if it ended up working out.

[Spokavriel]

I know. It's part of why waiting for an unknown time seems like it might be a long wait. But Consolidating all that is decided to be in the official chapter right here in a new post sounds great to me. It would also make it easier to see how the transition around that removal of the Peachbody incident flows.

[KonokoHasano]

Here's the full story post...


Ether Morph

Ranma ½ and Gold Digger are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Fred Perry respectively, and are merely being used in this fictional work to make a story. I do not own them at all.


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 1


Genma Saotome sat as calmly as he could, but that wasn’t saying much considering both his twitching foot and fingers. Hospitals usually did make him rather antsy, what with the constant lingering of smells in the air, and his senses keeping him on edge. Because of his excellent health, he hardly ever had to come, but there was a reason for him being there: His wife, Nodoka, was in labor.

Never having had a child before, the bandana wearing man was extra nervous about how everything would turn out. He hoped that nothing would seem wrong with the child; that the entire process managed to flow smoothly. He didn’t know how he would be able to take it if their soon-to-be child had some kind of anomaly that would cause serious issues to end up cropping up.

Who knew that having a child could end up being so distressing?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nodoka panted in an effort to catch her breath as the thought of strangling her husband for having her go through such a grueling thing as childbirth. In fact, she actually had strangled the man once or twice during the course of the last nine months, so one more strangling wouldn’t exactly hurt him. He would never know what it was like to have a child, so why not let him share in at least some of her pain?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of an infant wailing its tiny head off reached her ears. Turning her head towards the source, she was instantly filled with a plethora of emotions as she caught sight of her newborn child being cleaned up by one of the doctors. She could just make out a very faint tuft of black hair on top of its head.

“Is that my--”

“Congratulations Saotome-san, it’s a--” The doctor blinked as he glanced down to get a second look. He could have sworn… ah well, must have been his mistake. “It’s a girl.”

Nodoka’s eyes widened as a look of absolute joy spread across her features. She had been hoping that the baby would turn out to be a girl, and now she found out that her wishes had come true. As she accepted her newborn child -- wrapped up in a tiny blanket, -- she was able to catch a glimpse of her large, clear blue eyes. ‘She’s so adorable.’

Her husband arrived a mere moment later, his face showing off a look of worry as he wanted to know if everything was alright. After learning everything from the doctors, he appeared to have calmed down before moving over to his wife and gently laying his hand on top of hers.

“Oh Genma, isn’t she beautiful?” Nodoka asked as she almost appeared to glow in happiness. “But we need a name for her.” She was shocked that they never attempted to come up with any names. They needed to think of a name for their adorable little flower. “That’s it!” Nodoka said with wide eyes. “Her name will be Kohana.”

“Kohana?” Genma asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, after-all, she is our little flower, and she’ll probably bloom into a beautiful one.”

Genma nodded and supposed that it would be a good name, and the look on his wife’s face said that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Alright, Kohana it is, then.” He was just glad that everything seemed to have turned out alright, but he was still nervous about the next few years. After-all, taking care of the infant wouldn’t exactly be an easy task.

Later, when the doctors checked on Kohana, they were surprised to note that the baby girl wasn’t really a girl, but a boy. After some questioning of the doctor who claimed otherwise, they figured that it was just a mistake that came about due to the bright lights and the doctor’s tiredness.

Of course, they had to break the news to the new parents, and Nodoka was greatly saddened by the fact that she DIDN’T have a daughter. Still, the infant was her’s, and the gender didn’t matter at all. However, the name ‘Kohana’ just wouldn’t due for a boy, and so they had to come up with another name. After a little back and forth, they finally came up with the name ‘Ranma’.

Nodoka was also curious as to why her son’s eyes seemed to have changed from a bright blue to a bluish purple, but figured that her tiredness caused her to see things as well. Bluish purple was an odd color, but it was a beautiful color.

Genma, on the other hand, was slightly nervous. The so-called ‘mistake’ that everyone was thinking about wasn’t an error at all, but an actuality. Their child truly did change into a girl as the doctor was holding him, and then changed into a boy when left alone. The bandana wearing man truly hoped that their offspring would end up being what Nodoka was: A human. However, against his internal wishes, Ranma ended up being what he was: A Rakshasa.

He wasn’t human, and ‘Genma’ was merely an identity that he had crafted and used for the last couple of decades. He couldn’t remember exactly how old he was, because he had basically stopped counting over an eon ago. Time wasn’t really a factor for someone so old, and so years tended to fly by faster than one could comprehend. This is why he had no problem pretending to be someone else for several years at a time.

If the truth of what he was got out, then he would merely have to take on another identity, and nobody would be any wiser. It also helped in allowing him to procure monetary funds and items. Sure, he merely needed to feed off of the ethereal energy of humanoids to sustain him, but having money to set up appearances so that nobody would be suspicious was a necessity. He was not above creating relationships with wealthy individuals so that he -- or she depending on what identity is being used at the time -- could later on make off with a nice amount of money. After-all, what was a few decades spent in a relationship to someone who has lived basically forever?

His attraction to Nodoka at first was more or less because of the unusually strong ethereal energy she possessed for a human. It was rare to encounter one with so much just lying around about them, and so he tended to take advantage of the situation whenever he came across such person. However, in the short couple of years that he had known the woman, Genma found that there was more than just being attracted to her ethereal energy. He was also attracted to the woman herself.

Hence the reason why he was nervous about Ranma also being a Rakshasa, and being unable to control his morphing powers. It would only be a matter of time before Nodoka notices a minor hair or eye color change, perhaps a change in skin tone, sudden ear or hair length, or Ranma changing into a neutral or female form. When that happens, Genma would have to explain himself, and it was likely that Nodoka wouldn’t be pleased.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Genma’s opinion, the first year was the most hectic time that he had ever had. He had to make extra sure that Nodoka never noticed any random changes, and it was only by luck that whenever Ranma’s hair or eyes changed, it only lasted a moment before returning to normal. Nodoka noticed a few times, sure, but she always figured that she had merely been seeing things in an effort to deal with what she thought was inevitable insanity.

A much more bothersome issue was that Ranma seemed to switch between male and female forms depending on who was holding him at the time. Thankfully, he had managed to convince Nodoka that he wanted to be the one to change Ranma’s diapers and give him his baths, while stating that doing so would be proper father/son bonding. This ended up causing his wife to gush about him being ‘such a wonderful parent’ to take up his share of the tasks.

Sadly, this meant that he would often have to wake up during the night to change their infant son, and have to constantly deal with the odor of smelly diapers. The things he had to do to keep a secret going. He was certain that someone could make a stupid sit-com about all the trouble and embarrassment he went through.

At least he didn’t have to worry about Ranma going hungry, thanks to Nodoka breast feeding him instead of using formula. The infant managed to get the needed ethereal energy via the milk, and so Genma didn’t have to periodically give him infusions and waste his own energy stores. Of course, whenever the time comes that his wife stops breast feeding, he WOULD have to start giving Ranma occasional infusions so that he didn’t starve.

He decided that when Ranma could properly walk, he would take the boy on a training trip. This would allow them to get away from Nodoka before she got wise to the truth, teach him how to gain control of his powers, and start training his child in martial arts so that he could later fight and beat his food into submission. He just hoped that he could keep up the charade long enough, that Ranma’s random changes didn’t lead to anything permanent that wouldn’t go away and allow Nodoka to know.

Genma’s run of good luck unfortunately ran out just a few days after Ranma turned one-year-old. Nodoka was showing the young Rakshasa a picture book in an attempt to get him to learn about a few animals. When they got to the page with a small puppy on it, the young child gave off a giggle. That was when, to both Genma and Nodoka’s horror, the black-haired boy’s entire form started to change.

‘Oh shit…’ The bandana-wearing man thought to himself.

Ranma’s body grew a very small coat of tan fur that covered him from head to toe, and his nose turned into a tiny, black button one. His ears, which had become slightly pointed in the last two years, quickly changed and became a pair of floppy dog ears. Finally, a small tail could be seen poking out from the top of his diaper.

Nodoka did something that any normal person in her situation would do; she fainted dead away.

“Mumma?” Ranma asked in confusion as he crawled over to the unconscious woman and gave her a small tap with his now paw-like hands. He proceeded to turn his head towards his father with a look that showed curiousness.

“She’s-- err-- just tired, boy.” Genma answered with a nervous laugh. Damn it, if only the younger Rakshasa wouldn’t have let his secret out for a few more days, because then he could have convinced Nodoka to let him take the child on a training trip. Here’s hoping that the change would revert before his wife woke up.

Ranma tilted his tiny head in confusion. His tail behind him managed to get free enough so that it could wiggle.

Nodoka woke from her sudden slumber a few moments later. “What happened?” She asked as she massaged her forehead. She had the weirdest dream that her son had turned into some kind of dog boy. “Genma, do you--” The dark-haired woman stopped in her question when she caught sight of her son sitting just in front of her. He was still in a puppy-boy form, and she could just make out a tail behind him.

“G-- G-- Genma,” She managed to get out as she turned her head towards her husband with a fearful and distressed look. “What happened to our son?! Why did he just become a dog boy?” Turning her head back towards her barking son, she watched as he continued to wag his tail. “R-- Ranma?”

“Mumma?” Ranma asked with a little confusion at why the woman seemed to be acting so weird. After another moment, he changed back to his normal form.

Nodoka blinked at seeing her child return to normal. However, it still didn’t explain why he was just a humanoid dog.

Clearing his throat and pushing up his glasses, Genma braced himself for the inevitable backlash. “Nodoka, dear, there’s something important that I have to tell you.” Upon gaining his wife’s attention, he continued. “You see, I’ve been keeping a secret from you. I’m-- not human.”

“W-- What?” The woman asked as she stared at the man as if he had just grown a second head. Giving off a laugh, she shook her head. “That’s a good one, Genma. If you’re not human, then what are you? An alien?” Her laughter died down as she watched her husband shrink a few centimeters and gain a little more hair on the top of his head. His ears grew long and pointy, similar to the ears of an elf. A pair of horns also grew out from the hair just above his temples, and were swept backwards. Due to his smaller, slimmer body, his gi was almost falling off.

“Rakshasa, actually.” He said before rushing to the woman before she could faint again. “Don’t faint again, Nodoka.”

“What? How? When? Why?” Nodoka asked at a frantic pace. That was until her expression turned into an angry one. “You’ve been lying to me all this time?”

Genma used a free hand to scratch the side of his cheek. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that I was lying.” He said with a nervous laugh. “I never really planned on telling you just what I was. However, since we have Ranma, and he’s also a Rakshasa -- which is a being that’s quite rare, honestly. I’ve only met one other in the last 15,000 years, -- keeping the secret has been a lot harder than I would have liked. Who knew that an infant shape-shifter could be so hard to manage, right?” He gave off another laugh, but this one was based more on amusement. His laughing, however, was cut short due to a sudden slap to the face.

“How could you?” Nodoka asked with a look full of both anger and hurt. “I bet you thought it was funny to watch me think I’ve been seeing things over the past year, right?” She felt completely betrayed in her trust of the man before her.

Genma attempted to calm the woman down. “Now Nodoka, dear--”

“DON’T YOU DARE ‘DEAR’ ME!” The woman shouted as she spun around and ran for their bedroom. It wasn’t long before the slamming of a sliding door could be heard.

As he scratched the back of his head, Genma couldn’t help but sigh. ‘That probably could have gone better.’ It was likely that the relation was over due to Nodoka finding out that he wasn’t human. There was also no telling of just how she would react towards the child if they did stay. She could end up a good mother, or she could end up neglectful, and he really didn’t want to see the latter.

Not to mention the fact that the woman had that blasted katana of hers that she could possibly use to try and cut the both of them.

Turning his head towards Ranma’s direction, he could see that the toddler was worried about what just happened, because he had never seen his mother so angry before. The one-year-old child gave a small gurgle as he watched where Nodoka had vanished. Ranma started to crawl in that direction, but was quickly picked up by the older Rakshasa. Giving a little gurgle, the infant reached up and pulled hard on his father’s ears.

“Strong grip.” Genma said with a wince as his glasses fell off of his nose. “Damn it, boy, knock it off.”

Ranma merely giggled

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Nodoka pushed herself into a sitting position on her bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She couldn’t believe that Genma had lied to her all this time, and was really some other kind of creature. Even if he had claimed to be a kitsune or tanuki, she would have been just as angry about being deceived. Why couldn’t he have told her from the start, or at least right after they got married? Sure, she would have been angry, but at least it wouldn’t seem as if she were living a lie.

No, he had to wait long after they were married, and after having a son at that. If Ranma hadn’t turned out to be the same thing as Genma, then it was likely that she would never learn the truth, and would continue to live this farce.

‘Ranma…’ Nodoka thought as she held her hand to her mouth; her adorable little boy who happened to be the entire world to her. It wasn’t his fault that his father was a complete liar. How could she stay angry at a baby…HER baby? If what Genma said was to be believed, then Rakshasa were really rare, and her son was one of them. That made him pretty special, and she was the mother to such a special child. Hell, she should be PROUD to be chosen as the parent to Ranma, and not antagonistic.

What if her son needed her right now? What if he was starving for milk? She had kept herself locked up in this room for several hours, and so Ranma should be hungry by now. How could she be so careless as to neglect her pride and joy?

Pushing herself off of the bed, Nodoka quickly made her way out of the room and proceeded downstairs. “Genma? Ranma?” She asked as she searched for any sign of her husband or son. She could forgive Genma for his deceit just this once, if only it would allow her to hold Ranma tight and never let go.

When she reached the living room, her eyes caught sight of a sheet of paper lying on the table. Making her way over to it, she picked it up and began to read. What she read caused her eyes to widen in complete horror.

Nodoka

By the time you find this note, Ranma and I will most likely be long gone. From your distress and anger, I could tell that it was probably time to leave, because you no doubt want nothing to do with either of us, and I perfectly understand that. I wish I would have told you sooner, but it’s too late now. Rakshasa are psychic, I was able to sense how you felt. So, the best thing I could do was leave with Ranma.

Also, Ranma said bye.

Genma.

Nodoka’s hands shook as she read the letter, and tears once again fell from her cheeks, and onto the paper’s surface, causing words to smear slightly. Falling to her knees, she began to let out low sobs at the fact that both her husband and son had left just because she had gotten a little angry.

‘I was just a little angry is all, so why did you have to leave and take Ranma away?’ She asked in her mind as she hoped beyond anything else that she’d get to see them again… if only to be able to hold her son again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three-year-old Ranma giggled as he used a small bit of his ESP to pick up a pebble and spin it around in the air. He was currently neuter, the form he was in most of the time unless he accidentally transformed into either his masculine or feminine form. With a little push, he sent the mineral flying towards a tree as he thought about going to find a bigger rock to play with.

He watched as the pebble hit the trunk of the tree, but his eyes widened at seeing a squirrel appear. The creature was quickly hit on the tail, causing it to be frightened and charge up the tree at a faster pace. Ranma, feeling bad that he had likely hurt the creature, ran up to the tree and looked up into it.

‘Hope squirrel is okay.’ Ranma thought with a frown as his hair changed to a light blue. While he had some moderate control of his psionic powers, his transforming powers often activated on their own depending on his emotions or thoughts. The most common of issues was his hair changing at random moments to display his mood; his skin tone and eye color also had a similar problem. It wasn’t uncommon for his entire body to change to a different shade of color, which was the younger Rakshasa’s exact problem at that very moment. The color of his skin had taken on a very light purple, while his eyes were split between pink for the left, and white for the right. All in all, this made the child a total mess in the visual aspect, and so it tended to make taking Ranma into a city or town difficult.

“Why are you looking up into a tree, Ranma?” A voice asked from behind, causing Ranma to spin around and see his father. The older Rakshasa was currently in the form that he had been using for the past two decades. Genma tended to use this form whenever he trained his son in martial arts, or whenever the both of them were around other people. When teaching Ranma about his Rakshasa abilities, or whenever there wasn’t anybody else around, Genma would use his neutral form.

“Papa!” Ranma shouted as he ran up to his father and grabbed onto the man’s gi. “I hit squirrel with rock. Is it hurt?” There was a hint of a distressed look in the child’s eyes.

Genma stared at his son for a moment before squatting down and placing a hand on the boy’s head. “Did you throw the rock hard?” The child shook his head. “Did the squirrel act hurt at all?” There was another head shake. “Where did you hit it?”

“Tail!” A tiny squirrel tail appeared behind the child as he mentioned it. When Ranma noticed that he had formed the tail, he pulled it in front of him and pointed to the tip. “Hit here.”

Giving a small nod, the gi-clad man stood up straight. “I think you just scared the squirrel, boy. I doubt it is hurt at all.”

“Really?” Ranma asked with a hint of hope as he let go of the tail and allowed it to twitch behind him. When his father nodded, the young Rakshasa gave a cheerful clap of his hands.

Genma couldn’t help but shake his head at the sight of the fluffy tail swaying behind his offspring. It was a good thing that he had cut small flaps in the child’s gi, otherwise the clothing would have been ruined by the sudden sprouting of tails or other appendages. He only hoped that it wouldn’t be much longer until Ranma’s transformations were much more controlled. “Alright Ranma, get rid of that tail.”

“Don’t wanna. It’s soft.” The child said as he sat on the ground, hugging the foreign appendage.

“Get rid of the tail. We’re going to do some training, and that thing will only become an unnecessary weakness if you keep it.”

Ranma gave off a pout as he closed his eyes to concentrate. After a few moments, the tail disappeared. After opening his eyes back up, he got to his feet. “Papa?” He asked. “What is mashial arts for?” He had heard the words several times, but never received an explanation as to what they were exactly. All he really knew was that learning to do things like punching and kicking was a part of it.

Genma scratched his chin for a moment as he attempted to figure out just how to explain it to the young child. “The martial arts is something that is learned so that a person may protect oneself from being hurt by defeating someone else who is the one trying to hurt you.” He explained. “There are some people who dedicate their time to martial arts so that they may protect those in trouble. However, the reason that I am teaching you to fight is not so you can go around saving people.” Of course, it didn’t really matter if his offspring did decide to also take part in doing just that.

“Then why?” Ranma asked curiously.

“It is so you can defeat humanoids and feed off of their ethereal energy. The better a fighter you are, the better you can render your target unconscious. Otherwise, you’ll most likely end up going hungry.”

“No going hungry.” Ranma said as he shook his head. He did not like feeling hungry at all.

Genma gave a sage nod at seeing his offspring give him his undivided attention. “There is, of course, another way to gain ethereal energy from humanoids, but I tend to prefer fighting them into submission.” It wasn’t that he lacked the ability to seduce anybody; he found the physical method to be much easier and faster. “I won’t be teaching you any of that, though… at least not until you’re older.”

Ranma gave a small pout, because he wondered what kind of awesome method it was, and why he had to be older to know.

“Now,” Genma said in a loud, commanding voice that caused his child to stand up straight. “Let’s hurry up. We shouldn’t be wasting time dawdling when we can use it for training.”

“Yes Papa!” The young blue-haired -- now green-haired -- Saotome answered back as he ran towards his father.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Let’s get some okonomiyaki next!” An 11-year-old Ranma shouted as she quickly made her way towards another stand. They were in the midst of a festival, and the thing that the young Rakshasa liked the most was that there were many different kinds of food to try out. It also provided a great occasion to dress up in a kimono. Currently, her raven-black hair was tied in two loose ponytails that draped over her shoulders, and a pink flower ornament was placed neatly within her hair. The Kimono she wore was a light blue with a dark pink flower pattern on it.

“Alright, alright, but can’t you slow down a little, girl?” Genma asked in a hint of annoyance as she chomped down on some takoyaki that she had just obtained. Her own raven-black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and the kimono she was wearing was a simple dark red. “You’re acting as if it’ll all disappear within seconds.” She was currently in a female form due to the fact that it was much easier to score extra portions of food. While she did dislike the idea of mindlessly flirting, she didn’t have a problem with attempting to con some people out of one or two more takoyaki, rice ball, meat bun, or whatever else at the moment. Her long, pointy ears and horns -- which curved upwards slightly at the ends -- showed that she hadn’t bothered to hide her Rakshasa form.

Ranma gave a cute pout, but continued on to the Okonomiyaki stand. Once she got there, she gave a large sniff, taking in the various aromas. “It smells so good.” She said as she placed a finger to her lips. “But what kind to get?”

“I’d suggest the cheese and shrimp, fully seasoned with sauce, mayonnaise, katsuobushi, and aonori.” A voice on the other side of the stand said. Raising her head, the young Rakshasa saw that it was a girl around her age with dark-brown hair tied back via a white ribbon. She was holding a couple spatulas while standing next to a large bearded man who had to have been her father. “It’s really good, ya know?” She added with a nod. “By the way, my name’s Ukyo. Ukyo Kuonji.”

“Kohana Saotome.” Ranma said as she used the name that her father suggested she use while in female form and around people. When asked where the name came from, he refused to answer before saying that he ‘heard it somewhere’. “I’m traveling around on a training trip.”

“Martial arts training trip?” Ukyo asked with a hint of interest.

Ranma nodded even though the training was linked more towards properly mastering her psychic, transformation, and mind reading abilities. She still trained in some martial arts, but as a Rakshasa, her normal self wasn’t fully meant to fight physically.

“I’m a martial artist as well.” The brunet responded. “My dad’s teaching me in our family’s own style of Okonomiyaki Martial Arts. I think I’m doing very well with it, if I say so myself.”

“You still can’t hit a target correctly, Ukyo.” Her father said with a hint of a smirk. “The spatula always flies right on by.”

This caused the young girl to give a pout at being called out in front of someone. “Daaaaad, how could you?” She asked with a blush before turning to look back at the raven-haired girl. “Don’t listen to him; he’s just jealous and afraid that I’ll beat him sooner or later.”

Ranma gave off a small giggle in response. Taking a look into the other girl’s mind, she could see that the brunet managed to hit the target at least a few times. She was broken out of her mental probing as an okonomiyaki -- courtesy of her currently female father -- was handed to her. “Thanks, mom.” She stated, using the term of address that they each agreed to use while in the proper forms around other people.

“Now that you have your okonomiyaki,” Genma said as she grabbed hold of her daughter’s arm, “Let’s quit dawdling and hurry up.” She wanted to try her hand at goldfish scooping. The damn thing was always difficult without the use of her psychic powers.

“Alright, but can you win me a toy? Please?”

The older Rakshasa gave a grumble of annoyance. “I never should have gotten you all that cotton candy.”

“Oh, Kohana!” Ukyo shouted out, causing Ranma to turn her head. “If you’re still around later, maybe we can meet up again.”

The raven-haired girl gave a smile. “I’ll find you later, okay?” After the two children waved by to each other, Ranma happily followed her father. “Can we stay around this area for a few days? I wanna hang around Ukyo some more.”

“You seem overly happy to have met her.” Genma said. “She had some ethereal energy, but not in a large amount, so I don’t see why you’re so giddy.”

The 11-year-old gave the side of her head a small scratch. “It’s because she’s might end up becoming a friend.” She never really had a chance, because whenever she went to school, everyone would end up finding out about what she was, and they were usually either afraid of her, or would try to bully her because of it. After-all, someone who is neither gender, but can still be both was definitely different. As the old saying went, the nail that sticks out is hammered down.

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up, girl.” Her parent said, breaking her out of her thoughts. “If she finds out about your true nature, there’s no telling how she would act.”

Ranma quickly moved ahead. “I’ll just tell her the truth when I meet her again. We seemed to get along really well, and since I’m basically the same person either way, it shouldn’t be a problem!” Really, what could go wrong?

Genma rolled her eyes at her offspring’s silly optimism. It was then that she spotted the goldfish scooping game. “Hold on a moment.” She said as she went to stand in the relatively short line.

Ranma shrugged and continued to walk backwards, but because her back was turned, the young Rakshasa found herself accidentally bumping into someone. “Oh, sorry.” She said as she turned around. “I wasn’t looking where--” She halted when she finally caught sight of who she ran into.

He was somewhat short with dark skin and short, purple hair. His clothing seemed to be a little baggy for him, but didn’t appear to be in any danger of falling off. What really grabbed the 11-year-old’s attention, though, were the long, pointy ears and swept-back horns on the person’s head. It didn’t take too long to place all of the clues together.

Before the person could get a word out, Ranma made her observation known. “You’re a Rakshasa!”

Genn couldn’t help but blink at quickly being pointed out by a young child. However, his attention was soon focused on her long ears, and the tiny little stubs that could faintly be seen on the side of her head. Those two signs could only mean one thing. “You too?!” He asked with eyes the size of saucers.

“What’s with all of the commotion, Genn?” A girl with blonde hair asked as she walked up with a few taiyaki. Her ears were pointy, slightly resembling a cat’s, and a black stripe could be seen vertically over her left eye. It sounded as if she were speaking in English, but it came off as Japanese for Ranma. Her green eyes quickly took notice of the young girl.

“Brianna,” Genn began, “She’s a Rakshasa! She’s an actual Rakshasa!” He couldn’t remember the last time he actually came across another, and so he didn’t think he’d ever come across another. If the one before him really was a child, then there must have been another somewhere.

Brianna was surprised by this tidbit of information, but she could see why her companion was so excited. It had likely been thousands of years since he had come across another Rakshasa-- if he had, and so to finally meet another of your species had to make someone feel elated at the news. There was also the fact that the Rakshasa before them seemed to be just a child.

The Diggers sister crouched down in front of the raven-haired child and gave a smile. “Hi, I’m Brianna. Are you here by yourself, or do you have any parents?”

Ranma could only stare at the blonde woman in shock. Before she had crouched down, she had towered over everyone else in the area, and she was still rather imposing when she crouched down. “Wow… you’re really tall.” She had never seen anybody so large before. “Oh, and no. My-- mom is over there trying to scoop up a bunch of stupid fish.” She said as she pointed over towards the scooping game. It was obvious that Genma had failed at scooping up a goldfish, because she was empty handed.

“This is so amazing!” Genn let out. He hadn’t just met one Rakshasa, but TWO of them. Just what were the odds of that happening? He briefly wondered about trying to find Gina and Brittany to tell them. “What’s your name? I’m Genn.”

“Ranma,” The raven-haired child said, “But I’m going by Kohana while in public as a girl.” Asking them to hold on for a moment, Ranma ran over and grabbed her father -- currently mother -- by the hand and began dragging her towards the duo. “Look! Look!”

“What in the hell has gotten into you all of a sudden?” Genma asked in annoyance as she turned her attention to where her offspring was pointing. When she caught sight of Genn, her eyebrows rose in shock. “Now I see.” She couldn’t believe that she had managed to come across another Rakshasa.

“So you’re her mother?” Brianna asked.

‘Tall…’ Genma thought as she stared up at the blonde woman. “Her father, actually, but since I look like this at the moment, I might as well be.”

“What about her mother?” Brianna asked as she turned to look at the young Rakshasa and Genn excitedly converse with each other. “Is she a human or perhaps some other kind of being?”

Genma’s lips gave a slight twitch as she stared over at Ranma. “She was a human, actually.”

“Was? You mean she’s--”

“No, a few issues ended up cropping up.” Would this girl stop with the questions already? She would prefer to forget about the whole ordeal, not continue to think about it. “So I thought it was best to leave.” He was just glad that Ranma never seemed to ask where his mother was or if he had one.

Feeling a tug on her kimono, she glanced down to see that Ranma was staring at her with hopeful eyes. She also had to take a slight double-take when she noticed that the Rakshasa they just met had assumed a little girl form of about the same age as her own child’s.

“Can I hang out with Genn for a little while? Please? This’ll probably be the only time I’ll ever meet another Rakshasa!” Her eyes took on the dreaded puppy-dog look as she pleaded.

Genma’s eye gave a slight twitch at having that look directed towards her, as well as the intense emotions just coming off of her daughter. “Well…” She really didn’t see the harm. Besides, if she came into any danger at all, the psychic link they shared would alert her, and she’d be on the scene in no time. “Sure, why not? Go enjoy yourself.”

Ranma gave a joyful shout as she pulled Genn along with her. Being able to spend time with another Rakshasa was going to be so much fun.

“Now what…” Genma asked herself as she scratched her head. She could probably just randomly walk around until she decided that it was time to collect her child and leave.

Brianna grabbed the woman by the arm. “Hey, why not come with me and meet my sisters? Just because your daughter’s off having fun playing doesn’t mean that you have to be left out of having fun. Besides, I’m sure everyone else would be interested to meet another Rakshasa.”

The raven-haired woman thought it over for a moment. She didn’t have anything better to do, and just walking around aimlessly by herself would be rather boring. “Eh, sure.” It has been awhile since she was actually able to hang around other people. Watching over Ranma took up a great majority of her time, so shouldn’t she have a chance to have her own fun once in a while?

A small distance away, Genn and Ranma found themselves in a discussion as they took in the sights.

“So your mo-- father is teaching you martial arts so that you can defeat your opponent to gather up the ethereal energy you need?” Genn asked to see if she understood right.

Ranma nodded. Yeah, he says that it’s a lot faster and easier to fight and knock an opponent out compared to the other method.” A slight frown appeared on her lips. “But I don’t really like the idea of beating someone up. Sure, I’ll do it if I have to so I can protect myself, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that doing it causes the other person to feel a lot of pain.”

Genn crossed her arms. “And since you’re a Rakshasa, you’re able to feel the emotions tied to that pain that the other person is feeling, causing you to feel terrible for putting them through that, right?”

“Yeah, but my father says that I’ll get used to it, and I’ll reach a point where I can just block what I’m sensing out.” No matter how many times she was told that, however, she still had issues accepting it.

“You know,” Genn began, “The other way that you’ve heard about might be a lot easier for you.” Sure, maybe there was a reason that the other Rakshasa’s father never told her yet, but she couldn’t just stand by and not offer at least some kind of help. “With it, you wouldn’t have to kick the crap out of someone so that you can get your energy.”

“Really?” Ranma asked with a tilt of her head. “Can you tell me what it is?”

A distance away, Genma felt a slight chill flow through her spine, but she had absolutely no idea what it was about. She could still tell that Ranma was fine, so that couldn’t have been it. ‘It was probably just nothing.’ She thought to herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

‘Why does it have to be so dreary today?’ A girl of about 16 with short black hair wondered with a sigh as she stood under the safety of an umbrella. Hopefully the weather would clear up by the time she finished shopping for groceries, then she could contact her friend and see if they could go shopping for more interesting things. ‘I wish something would brighten the day up a little.’

As soon as the thought left her, the raven-haired girl found herself slipping, possibly due to the puddle that she had accidentally stepped in. As she fell backwards, she frantically waved her arms and closed her eyes, hopping that it wouldn’t hurt too much.

Contact with the ground never came, and to the girl, it felt as if she had been caught by a pair of strong arms. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself staring into an amazing pair of silver orbs that stared at her with a hint of concern. As the raven-haired girl gave her savior a closer look, she saw that those silvery eyes belonged to a boy who possessed an unusual shade of emerald green hair, tied off into a loose ponytail that draped around his shoulders.

“Are you alright?” The boy asked in a soft voice.

“Huh?” The girl asked before her eyes widened. “Oh! Yes, I’m alright. Err-- Could you help me up?” After she was back on her feet, she was able to get a better look of her savior. He appeared to be about her age, a little taller, with an athletic build that was similar to a swimmer or gymnast. His outfit consisted of a normal-looking red t-shirt with black sweatpants. “Um-- Thanks for the help.”

The boy smiled. “You’re welcome. After-all,” He said, leaning forward a little, “It wouldn’t be good to allow a cute girl to get hurt, right?” He asked with a wink.

The girl fumbled as she attempted to find a reply, but before she could open her mouth to give one, the boy in front of her was hit upside the back of the head by a fist. “Huh?” She asked as she turned her head to see an older man who appeared to be in his 30’s, dressed in a dirty-white gi, a bandana covering the top of his head, and a pair of glasses resting upon his nose.

The boy gave off an annoyed growl as he turned to glare at the man. “What in the hell didja do that for, old man?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Because we don’t have time for this nonsense, boy.” The older man answered back as he grabbed the emerald-haired teenager and pulled him away as he walked off from the thoroughly confused girl. “Now come on Ranma, we have places to be.”

“Alright, alright, jeez…” Ranma said once he was set back down on the ground as soon as they were out of sight of the girl. Grumbling slightly, Ranma allowed his body to shrink back to his neutral form. Where there had previously been a boy of about 16-years-old, stood a figure that looked as if he were just 13-years-old. The T-shirt and sweat-pants that he was wearing quickly became a couple sizes too large, making him seem even smaller. His ears grew to become long and pointy, and a pair of swept-back horns grew out from the hair just above his temples. They weren’t very long yet, having only started growing a couple years ago.

Unless there was a reason for him to become male or female -- flirting in an effort to obtain ether energy, conning extra scoops of ice cream or other treats, changing for convenience if situation calls for it, or other reasons, -- Ranma would mostly stay neuter. His hair and eye color, though, were things that he liked to change every once in a while for variety, and he’d darken or lighten his skin tone for the very same reason.

“So what’s this old training buddy of yours like, and how did you two end up making this engagement pact?” Not that the young Rakshasa had a problem the idea of being engaged or not. If there was an excellent source of Ether, and he could get along with whoever it was, then who was he to complain?

“Tendo is a human I met while training under the same martial arts master. When we parted ways, he decided to bring up an engagement pact so that our future children could get together.” Genma gave off a laugh. “He didn’t know I was a Rakshasa, and I never thought I’d have any children, so what was the harm in agreeing? He did, after-all, offer to buy the both of us some sake afterward.”

Ranma placed his arms behind his head. “So you had every intention of just forgetting about the engagement and moving on.”

“Exactly.” His father answered with a laugh.

‘I wonder if they’ll be cute.’ The young Rakshasa thought to himself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[KonokoHasano]

Ranma puffed up his cheeks in annoyance as he crossed his arms. The people before him were acting as if he were just a kid. Just because his neutral form was small and didn’t exactly look like his true age, they had to point it out. His father had gone off to talk with the Tendo patriarch, leaving him with the man’s three daughters, who proceeded to grill the young Rakshasa on certain issues. It didn’t help that he could sense their emotions and surface thoughts on the matter either.

“Well this is a disappointment.” Nabiki said as she sat back. “Here I was expecting to see a handsome man, but all we got here is a little boy that seems to like pretending to be an elf.”

Kasumi observed their house guest. “Are you sure that he’s a boy? She looks like a girl to me.”

“At least this means that the engagement is off.” Akane mumbled with a look of relief. Being engaged to a kid would be silly. Just what was up with those fake horns he was wearing?

“Hey!” Ranma shouted in protest. “I’m not an elf; I’m a Rakshasa. Can’t you see my horns?” He pointed to the swept-back protrusions. “And for your information, I’m 15-years-old.”

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. His claim of being 15-years-old was rather unbelievable. However, that wasn’t what caught her curiosity. “What’s a Rakshasa?”

Before Ranma could let a word exit his mouth, Soun and his father came back into the room. From what his psychic senses could tell, the mustachioed man was thoroughly shocked about whatever he had learned. He also kept giving his father looks as if this were the first time he had ever met the man.

Managing to slightly get over his shock, Soun gave a cough in his fist to get everyone’s attention. “I apologize for the interruption earlier, but I had to get a few things confirmed. Girls, I’d like to introduce you to Genma Saotome and his-- son, Ranma.” He promptly turned his attention onto Ranma. “Ranma, I’d like to introduce you to my daughters. My eldest daughter, Kasumi. She’s 19-years-old.”

Soun motioned towards the girl with long light-brown hair tied in a pony-tail. She seemed to be the least talkative of the trio of girls, and from what Ranma could sense, she had an incredibly large amount of ethereal energy surrounding her. From what he could gleam off of the girl’s surface thoughts and emotions, it seemed as if she was disappointed in how young he was and how he didn’t seem manly enough.

“My second daughter, Nabiki. She’s seventeen.”

Next was the girl with short dark-brown hair in a page-boy cut. She had an unimpressed and bored expression upon her face, but unlike her older sister, the amount of ethereal energy she possessed was a lot smaller. From her surface thoughts and emotions, Ranma could tell that she was bored of both the situation AND the ‘silly little wannabe elf boy’.

“And my youngest daughter, Akane. She’s sixteen.”

The final girl had long black that was also tied off in a ponytail. There was a faint bluish tint to her hair when the light hit it. The expression she was giving was one of annoyance and impatience. She had a large amount of ethereal energy surrounding her, but it was nothing like the eldest sister’s. Taking in her surface thoughts and emotions, Ranma was able to peg her as being rather temperamental and unwilling when it came to the thought of being engaged.

“Pick any one of the three, and she will be your fiancée.”

Akane hopped to her feet in an instant. “I object! There’s no way I can get engaged to someone who looks like they should almost be in grade school! Don’t you see how--”

She was interrupted as Ranma -- in the human form from earlier -- appeared in front of her with a finger to her chin. “Well, how would you like it if I was in this form?” He asked with a smile.

Nabiki, Kasumi, and especially Akane stared at the emerald-haired boy in shock. The effeminate-looking boy, who had the appearance of a child a moment ago, had instantly transformed into a boy of Akane’s age with an average height. The long ears and horns from earlier had also mysteriously disappeared.

Akane’s shock quickly disappeared when she realized that there was a boy in extremely close proximity to her, holding a finger to her chin and leaning in close. Her expression turned into one of fury as she attempted to punch at said boy. “Get away from me!”

Ranma dodged to the side of the punch before allowing his form to switch again. This time, to an even more astonished trio, the Rakshasa had assumed an obviously female form. He, now she, quickly returned to her position in front of the youngest Tendo. “Well, if your tastes are more feminine in nature…” She gave a wink. “I can be very-- flexible.”

“W-- What?” The youngest Tendo asked with a monstrous blush. Not only did the pipsqueak turn into a taller form, but he also instantly changed into a girl. This same girl was also trying to hit on her. Her lips turned into a snarl as she sent forward another punch that hit the boy-turned-girl in the chest, sending her flying back a little ways. “I’m not into that kind of stuff, you freak!” Her eyes widened at seeing the girl stop in mid-air, right before she switched to an Indian-style cross-legged position several centimeters above the floor.

As she floated in place, Ranma directed an annoyed pout at the dark-haired girl. “You didn’t have to punch me, you know. I could have taken a hint if you told me nicely.” The youngest Tendo definitely was directing a sea of negative emotions towards her, and so she now knew that trying to put moves on her was definitely a no-go. “Hey, and who are you calling a freak?”

She suddenly found a fist impacting the back of her head. “Stop being so flirty!” Genma growled out as he sat back down on the floor. Where did he go wrong in his raising of his only child? Oh, that’s right, he allowed his son to hang around that accursed Rakshasa four years previous. How could he have been so stupid?

“Will you knock that off, pops?” Ranma asked as she spun around and fixed her father with an annoyed glare.

“You-- You,” Nabiki tried to get out as she pointed a shaky finger at the emerald-haired girl. “You just grew several centimeters in a matter of seconds, and then you instantly changed into a girl.” A rather well-endowed girl too, she added to herself. “And now you’re floating above the floor.”

“Well,” Ranma said as she transformed back to neutral form, “I AM a Rakshasa.”

“You mentioned that earlier.” Kasumi said in an attempt to get answers. “But what is a Rakshasa.”

Ranma scratched the base of his ponytail as he attempted to figure out how to explain it. He didn’t have to, however, as his father decided to speak up.

“A Rakshasa is a rare magical being that has the ability to transform into almost any form.” The bespectacled man explained. Even though Soun was already briefed on it just moments ago, he still listened intently. “Rakshasa also have the ability to assume a male or female form at will, but their natural appearance is gender neutral.”

“That’s… different.” Nabiki said with a blink. However, she found herself wondering if there was a possible way to make some quick yen off of it. A rare magical being who can transform into-- Wait a minute. “Does that mean--”

“Transform into anything?” Akane interrupted as she turned her attention back to the younger Rakshasa. She still hadn’t forgotten the embarrassment from a few moments ago. “Prove it.” Her eyes widened in absolute shock at seeing the emerald-haired being transform into an exact replica of her.

“How’s this?” Her doppelganger asked, in her own voice. “Is it proof enough for you, Akane?”

Akane’s mouth opened and closed, but she couldn’t find anything to say or do except point shakily at the sight before her. “You-- I-- How--“

The wheels quickly began turning in Nabiki’s head. “Can you do more than just mimic the person’s appearance and voice?” There being two Akanes in the room seemed weird on more levels than one.

“And is the change complete to every little detail?” Kasumi asked slowly. “Do you also have--”

“Kasumi!” Akane cried out in an attempt to get the girl to stay quiet. There was no way that the fake could possibly know that she had a bruise in that location from a minor bit of carelessness during her usual fights. Also, why weren’t her sisters more weirded out at the whole scene?

“A small bruise on the upper part of the outer thigh?” Ranma asked with a tilt of her head and a smile that said yes, causing the youngest Tendo to stiffen in horror. “And it’s not just the physical appearance and voice. I can mimic them right down to their skills and abilities.”

“So you’re like a humanoid version of Ditto from the Pokemon games.” Nabiki stated with interest. Just thinking about the possibilities to use this to her advantage was causing the girl to mentally salivate. “Can you grow random things like cat ears and a tail?”

In response, the Rakshasa -- still in Akane’s form -- grew a pair of bluish-black cat-ears, accompanied by a long fluffy tail. “Doing that is child’s play.”

Nabiki, unable to control herself, instantly pulled out a camera and began to snap a few pictures. “Wait till everyone gets a load of this.”

“HEY!” Akane shouted as she proceeded to grab the camera from her older sister. Ignoring the protests, she glared daggers at the Rakshasa using her form. “Transform back right now, and don’t ever take my form again!”

“Okay, okay,” Ranma said as she raised her arms while quickly turning back to normal. The girl’s negative emotions over the whole issue were rather overwhelming. “There’s no need to get your panties in a bunch.”

Akane gave a humph as she crossed her arms. “There’s no way I’m getting engaged to a perverted, genderless creature like you! I refuse to take part in it.”

“Well you’re a regular Miss Sunshine.” Ranma bit back with a half-lidded stare. From reading the girl’s mind as he was assuming her form, he could tell that she had a slight problem when it came to people being ‘perverted’. He didn’t bother to read too far to see just why she had the problem, but he knew that he wanted no part of that. “But in all honesty, you’re not my type. I prefer someone who isn’t such an antagonistic and unattractive tomboy suffering from a complex.”

“What did you say?” Akane asked as she attempted to increase the intensity of her glare. “Who are you calling an unattractive tomboy?”

Ranma ignored the girl as he floated over towards the two older sisters. “Which means that it will between either of you two.” The middle Tendo daughter definitely seemed to be an interesting. From what he could tell by reading into her mind, the young Rakshasa noted that she had a thing for taking pictures to sell to others in an attempt to gain money to use for her own needs and desires. If they were engaged, he wouldn’t mind posing for pictures if it meant he could get reimbursed with donations of ethereal energy. She had a lot less than her sisters, yes, but it didn’t matter in the long run as long as he could get energy.

The eldest daughter, though, was the one with the immense amount of ethereal energy, and from a quick reading of her mind, he saw that she had a rather interesting inner personality that she tended to keep under-wraps. This tended to manifest itself in the way of subtle comments and actions that could be considered rather sarcastic. Her duty appeared to be taking care of the household chores. Perhaps, if he took to helping her, he could receive some energy as compensation.

“I don’t know.” Nabiki replied as she stroked her chin. “It would be a very interesting relationship, and I could see many ways that it could work out.” Mostly, she just saw the potential yen that could be made. “However, there are certain issues that I am unsure of.”

Kasumi gave a quick shake of her head. “You’re too young for me, and I’d definitely prefer an older man that’s not so small.”

“Not too small, eh?” Ranma asked with a smirk as he touched down to the ground. “Well then, how about if I looked like,” He quickly grabbed his oversized T-shirt and yanked it off, “This?”

Nabiki’s jaw dropped at seeing what was before her. Unlike the male form from earlier, this one was taller, and was likely bordering almost six feet with well-defined muscles in all of the right places. ‘Where the hell is my camera?!’ As she glanced around, her eyes lingered on her older sister, who seemed to be as stiff as a board. “Hey, Kasumi?” She asked.

“Uh-- Umm--” The eldest Tendo daughter tried to get out, but fumbled as she continued to stare at the well-muscled Adonis that stood before her. All of a sudden, her entire face flushed beet red. Unable to handle the situation before her, Kasumi quickly turned around in order to hide her face.

“Kasumi!” Akane shouted. “How could you act like that to this… creature?” Just what did he do to her demure sister?

“So?” Ranma asked in a gentle voice as he crouched down near the blushing girl. “What do you think of me now?”

“Y-- You’re very handsome.” Kasumi said as she tried to keep her face hidden.

Ranma gave off a smile. “You shouldn’t keep such a beautiful, blushing face hidden. I bet--” For the third time in less than four hours, Ranma found himself being hit upside the head by his annoyed father.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop flirting, boy?!”

The younger Rakshasa gave the man an annoyed glare before transforming back to neutral. He was about to make a retort, but found himself jumping out of the way as a large source of negative emotions came barreling towards him. “Hey, what in the hell is your problem?”

“Pervert, what did you do to my sister?” Akane asked with a shinai firmly in her hands.

“All I did was transform into what she desires most.”

The dark-haired girl scoffed. “Yeah, like you’d know what the desires of someone you never met were.” This creature was just being some kind of super pervert.

“Will you quit calling me that? I’m not a pervert, and I’m definitely not a super pervert.” Ranma asked with an annoyed look. Maybe he would have to take a peek into her mind and find out just why she loved to sling that word around.

Akane was about to retort, but came to a halt when she realized something. “I never said you were a super pervert.” At least, she didn’t think she did.

“Oh, sorry,” The emerald-haired being said as he scratched the base of his ponytail. “I ended up responded to your surface thoughts. It’s something I accidentally do from time to time.” He tried not to, but since they were easy to pick up, he sometimes forgot they were thoughts and not actually said.

The entire room grew silent, except for the sound of both Genma and Soun drinking tea as they watched their children attempt to decide just who would be engaged to whom. Soun was still in relative shock at everything he had just learned, but was slowly getting over it.

The silence came to an end when Nabiki spoke up. “Did you just say ‘surface thoughts’? As in, what Akane was thinking at this moment?” There was a small nod from the boy. “You can read a person’s mind?” She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of someone being able to see into her mind and read her deepest thoughts. Her eyes widened. Maybe-- Maybe he already saw what she had planned for him.

“Pretty much; we Rakshasa have access to psychic powers that let us do all sorts of things.” He didn’t like to delve deep into peoples’ minds all that much, because he realized how invasive it would be. He soon found his eyes crossing when he noticed the tip of a shinai being held right in front of his nose. “Err-- But I don’t read them if I can help it.”

“I challenge you.” Akane said with a not-so-pleasant look on her face. “Follow me to the dojo. If I win, you’ll have to leave and never come back.”

Ranma attempted to put up a pleasant smile as he pushed the shinai away. “I’d rather not.”

“What, afraid to be beaten by a girl? Are you a coward?”

The diminutive being gave the youngest Tendo a half-lidded stare. “Incase you’ve forgotten, I’m genderless, and I can become whichever gender I want, so how is that statement supposed to phase me?” He yanked the practice sword out of the girl’s hand. “And no, I’m not a coward. I just don’t like to fight if I don’t have to.”

“You’re probably really weak.” Akane said as she poked him on the cheek. “Your transformation is probably just for show; to psyche out your opponent so that you can chicken your way out of a fight.”

“You’re really pushing it, Tendo.” Ranma said between his teeth.

“Oh?” Akane asked as she crouched down in front of the Rakshasa. “What are you going to do about it?”

Ranma’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, I’ll agree to your silly little match, but I have one question.” He said as he raised a finger. “You don’t mind if I pick any form to fight you in, do you?”

The youngest Tendo sister rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what you turn into. You’ll lose either way.” This was probably going to be the easiest fight she ever had.

The emerald-haired boy’s lips curled into an evil smirk. “Good,” He said as his body transformed, “Because I hope you are ready to lose to yourself.” The now clone of Akane said, the smirk still present on her lips.

Akane stared in shock for a moment before her expression turned into one of anger. “I never said you could use my form!”

“I asked if I could use any form, and you said yes, so I think I can.” Ranma said in a smug manner. “Now hurry up, before I reveal a few of your most embarrassing secrets.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“That’s what you think.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Now don’t be going easy on me, Tendo.” Ranma said as she crossed her arms. She was positioned at a nice enough distance away from Akane as the youngest Tendo finished getting ready for the match. “Remember, I have all of your skills and abilities, and so I know all of your moves as well as you do.”

Akane humphed in response to the statement. “You may have seen them, but there is no way that a silly little copy-cat can defeat the original.” She’d show this silly little perverted freak that no amount of bluffing could defeat her, and she’d do it as her family and the weirdo’s own father watched. “This fight won’t last long. I won’t even need to put everything I have into it.”

Ranma shook her head as a frown appeared on her lips. “I’d suggest you do, because I will be putting everything into it.” She proceeded to get in a ready stance. “C’mon, I’ll even give you a chance to make the first strike!”

To the side of the dojo, both the Tendos and Genma were seated comfortably as they watched the fight get underway. “This is too weird.” Nabiki said. “I’m watching two Akane’s fight each other. I know which is which, but it just seems so eerie.”

“Just how much of my daughter’s fighting talent does your child have, Saotome?” Soun asked.

Genma pushed up his glasses. “All of it.” He responded. “They’re exactly even in speed, strength, stamina, and any other skill that your daughter possesses. The hardest opponent that one could likely ever face would have to be your own self, and such a thing would come down to knowing how to overcome your own abilities. Such a thing is something that most people in this world don’t plan for or understand.”

“And so as a Rakshasa, one learns to take advantage of that fact, right?” Kasumi asked. It was a weird thought, but the idea of being able to transform into anything you wanted sounded amazing and convenient.

Back to the center of the dojo, Akane gave a shout as she rushed towards her doppelganger with a fist pulled back. As she came upon her opponent, she sent the punch flying towards the imposter’s face, hoping to end the match quickly. Her eyes widened, however, when her target dodged to the left, right before grabbing onto her outstretched arm and pulling her off of her feet. She found herself sailing a couple meters before landing right on her back. Undaunted, she pushed herself to back to her feet and turned around, just as an elbow impacted against her mid-section and forced her back. This left her wide open for a roundhouse kick to her cheek that sent her back to the floor.

“Oh c’mon,” Ranma whined with her hands to her hips. “Didn’t I tell you to take this fight seriously? It was so blatantly obvious that you weren’t even trying, thinking that you could defeat me so quickly.”

Akane slowly pushed herself up and rubbed the spot on her cheek where she had been kicked. Okay, so she was wrong in assuming that this would be easy, and it was obvious that she was wrong in assuming that her opponent was faking what she said about mimicking her. ‘Fine then,’ She thought with a growl, ‘I’ll give this fake a real fight.’

Without a word, the dark-haired girl made another rush towards her clone. This time, she sent a punch towards the Rakshasa’s mid-section, but found the punch blocked. Not stopping, she quickly changed to a spinning kick to Ranma’s side. The hit failed to connect as her opponent ducked down low, before launching an uppercut that she barely managed to avoid by leaning backwards. A spin kick that mirrored her own just moments before came at her, but she managed dodge it by mere millimeters by hopping backwards. However, she wasn’t quick enough to move out of the way of a backwards heel kick that slammed into her stomach and sent her to her knees.

“What’s the matter? Don’t know how to fight yourself?” Ranma asked with a smug look. This was short lived as she found herself leaning backwards from a quick and sudden high-kick that was aimed for her chin. This quickly put her on the defensive as Akane gave a quick spin to gain momentum for a fast elbow strike to her chin. ‘Looks like she’s finally taking this seriously.’ She thought as she continued to dodge. The Rakshasa failed to notice, however, that as she was blocking and dodging, she was being forced to the dojo wall. She only noticed this when her back was pressed to the wood, and this distracted her enough for a spin kick to hit her in the side and send her fly several meters away to land on her stomach.

‘I got careless there.’ Ranma thought as she pushed herself up into a crouching position before turning to look at Akane. The youngest Tendo daughter was breathing heavily due to both the exertion and hits she received during the fight. Ranma, too, was feeling slightly out of breath, but was far from stopping. Maybe it was the adrenaline speaking, or perhaps something that was due to the form she was in, but the Rakshasa found herself having fun.

Akane was feeling ecstatic that she managed to finally get a proper hit, and didn’t think that she had ever had this much of a difficult time in a fight. All of the boys during her morning fights almost always went down in one or two hits, and they never really proved to be much of a challenge. This… creature -- despite being a genderless, body-stealing pervert -- was honestly giving her a great fight. ‘Alright, c’mon, there’s absolutely no way I’m losing to someone like you.’

Her thoughts were answered when her doppelganger was quickly upon her, sending several strikes to her head and body. The dark-haired girl managed to dodge and block each of the attacks, quickly realizing that she was, indeed, fighting an exact clone of herself. She was about to launch a counter-attack, but found herself fumbling slightly, leaving her open for both an uppercut to the chin and a snap-kick to the stomach that sent her flying onto her back.

“So, have you had enough?” Ranma asked between breaths as she placed her hands on her knees. The girl could really use a lot more stamina.

Akane, breathing heavily herself, attempted to push herself up, but found that her body was too tried to do anything but lay there. “Alright, I give up. You win.” She said in annoyance, expecting the other to start gloating over the victory and rubbing it in. However, all that happened was that her doppelganger walked up to her and held out a hand.

“Here, I’ll help you up.” Ranma said with a tired smile.

The youngest Tendo gave a reluctant stare to the offered hand. After a moment, though, she decided to accept it. “Thanks,” She said in a soft voice.

Ranma scratched the back of her head as she helped the other girl to her feet. “Sorry for having to run you into the ground like that.”

“Why are you apologizing?” She won the fight, so why act all nice and bothersome.

“It’s because of the reason I don’t like to fight that much. As a Rakshasa, I can sense others emotions, that also includes the feelings they’re experiencing when they’re hurt or injured. As such if I hit another person, I can basically feel what they are going through, and that’s not really something I like to experience.” The Rakshasa gave a slight bow. “So I apologize for what I put you through.” Even though it was the dark-haired girl who started the ordeal, she still felt bad for inflicting what she did on her.

Akane could only blink at her mirror clone as she bowed. Being able to feel another person’s emotions, and also being able to feel it when you cause any sort of pain on them? That sounded like it would be absolute hell to constantly experience, and for some odd reason, she felt a slight pang of guilt for forcing the Rakshasa into the situation. “I-- err-- apologize for goading you into fighting.” Despite that, though, she was still angry over the fact that she ended up losing to someone else that had used her own skills and abilities against her. Just what in the hell was up with that anyway? Sure, she had fun during the fight, but it still wasn’t fair!

Ranma let out a large smile. “So, maybe we can start over or something?”

“You wish.” Akane answered as she turned her head. “I still think you’re nothing but a perverted, genderless annoyance!” She went to take a step, but found herself losing her balance and falling forward. She was saved from a meeting with the ground by her doppelganger, who propped her up via her shoulder.

“Careful, your body is too tired to move properly right now.” Ranma’s lips twitched slightly. “You’re also sweating like a pig.”

“Hey!” The dark-haired girl shouted indignantly. If she had the body strength to, she would hit her upside the head for that remark. “I just need to get cleaned up and take a nice long soak in the furo is all.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Akane’s head snapped to stare at her clone. “You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’m going to allow a pervert like you to--”

“Hey,” Ranma interrupted with a frown, “Does it really matter if I’m genderless or female at the time? I feel like I need a nice long soak as well, and I really don’t want to wait for you to get done.” A glare was still focused on her. “Jeez,” She grumbled. “Look, if I try anything perverted, you can bash my head in with that shinai until you feel better, and I give you my word that I won’t try anything.”

“No way! I’m not letting you join me, and that’s that. You can wait until after I’m done.” She needed a little time to herself to think, and having this… person joining her would ruin her privacy and ability to think. “And change out of my form. We’re done fighting, so I don’t want to see you looking like me anymore.”

Ranma gave a pout. “Alright...” She said before returning to neutral form. However, in doing so, this caused Akane to almost fall forward due to not having anyone to lean on. “Can I at least have some ether energy?”

“Some what?”

“Ethereal energy,” The emerald haired being began. “It’s something that all humanoids possess, and is something that we Rakshasa feed off of. It’s also known as chi energy.”

“You want to suck out my energy?!” Akane shouted out in both shock and horror as her hands turned into fists.

Ranma winced slightly. “Well, yeah, but it doesn’t harm you or anything. I just absorb a little of someone’s energy when they’re completely relaxed or still. It has to be when they’re not moving, because the transfer is a little on the ticklish side. If someone moves, not only do they take back their ether energy, but they also take a lot of the Rakshasa’s with them.”

“You realize how much that makes you sound like a vampire?” The youngest Tendo asked in both shock and disbelief. “If you think I’m going to allow you to--”

“Please?” Ranma asked as he placed his hands to his stomach. “Assuming your form and fighting you has made me really hungry.”

Akane’s eye twitched slightly. Just how in the hell was she supposed to believe that this person was 15-years-old when he looked and acted childish? “Alright, fine, but if you try anything sneaky, I’m going to--”

“I swear, I won’t.” The young Rakshasa said as he moved his hands in a warding gesture.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

‘I think I overdid it a little.’ Ranma thought with a wince as he exited the furo while drying off his hair. His body and muscles were already starting to feel rather tender from the fight he had not that long ago. While he was able to copy a person right down to the smaller details such as voice or smell, he couldn’t really mimic the body experience itself. Akane had the upper hand during the fight because it was her own form, and she had trained her body over the years to be like that. He, however, merely assumed her form via an ether snapshot of sorts, and so the body was completely foreign to him.

Sure, there was a possibility that he could have lost the fight, but that possibility was not something that he would have accepted willfully. If Akane had gotten back up, he would have continued to fight despite being exhausted. It would have been a total blow to his pride, both for his abilities as a Rakshasa, and in all of the training he went through in the martial arts.

Okay, so most of the training he went through wasn’t for conditioning his normal body to fight, but for learning how to take advantage of weaknesses in someone else’s own skills and form. That didn’t mean, however, that he didn’t gain anything from training, or couldn’t fight for himself instead of relying on being a copy. Ever since he gained proper control of his transforming, he put in a little training into the male and female human forms that he used from time to time, and was fully capable of fighting without mimicking a person’s form and abilities.

The first to notice him as he entered the Tendo’s family room was Nabiki, who seemed to stare at him for a long moment before speaking. “So what’s it like to be genderless?” She asked as she took the Rakshasa in. Unlike the baggy clothes from earlier, he was wearing blue cotton pajamas that fit his form. His emerald green hair -- still in the process of drying -- was hanging loose, and it made it hard to not look at him and think he were a girl… or at least a young child who hasn’t reached puberty yet.

“Free.” Ranma answered as he attempted to figure out how to explain it. “I don’t have a gender, so I don’t have to worry about a lot of things for them. If I want to dress up and act like a boy, I can. If I want to dress up and act like a girl, I can. Because really, who is going to stop me?” He asked with a smirk.

“Wait, does that include places like girls’ dressing rooms or female sides of bath houses?” Akane asked with a horrified and disgusted look.

“Hey, I’m genderless!” This girl really sounded like a broken record. “I can be whichever I want, so if I want to enjoy the girls’ side of the bath house or something, then why not?”

The youngest Tendo sister gave a frown. “Yeah, so you can continue your disgusting flirting attempts. I bet those girls--”

“I don’t just limit my flirting to girls, ya know.”

All three Tendo sisters suddenly stared at him as if he had grown an extra head. “You mean,” Nabiki began, “That you will also flirt with boys?” At the half-lidded response she got from Rakshasa, she realized how silly the question was. “Oh right, genderless.” How could she have forgotten that? “But why do you flirt so much?” The information she was gaining could be put to some use.

“Ethereal energy.” Ranma said as if it were the simplest thing to understand. “Since Rakshasa can only absorb it when someone is hardly moving, it has to be done when they’re asleep.”

“Wait, asleep? That means you wanted to take my ki when I’m sleeping during the night.” Akane definitely did NOT like the prospect of someone doing something to her while she was asleep.

“But why all of the flirting?” Nabiki stated.

“Well, a Rakshasa’s two main ways of gathering a person’s energy are to either fight and render them unconscious, or to seduce them until they are exhausted and fall asleep.”

All three Tendo sisters stared in shock.

“WHAT?!” Akane yelled out as she shot to her feet. “You mean you ARE nothing but a sick perverted freak?!”

“Then that’s why you can see another’s desires.” Nabiki said upon finally putting pieces together. “It’s so you can change into what they’d like, and then you could easily have your way with them.” She finished with wide eyes.

“Oh my,” Kasumi said with a look of horror, “Does this mean that--”

“I’m still a virgin, okay?!” Ranma yelled in a panic as he placed his arms in an x pattern in front of him. “Sorry for reading your surface thoughts and all, but jeez, what kind of person do you think I am?” He felt completely appalled that they would even think that of him. “Sure, I flirt a lot, but I am sure in the hell not some kind of whore or perverted sicko! I usually ask a person I’m flirting with if I can get some energy from them. Many of them do get disturbed or freaked out, but I do find people who are nice enough to agree.” If there was one thing that he absolutely hated, it was someone thinking he was like that. “I have my standards and morals, ya know.” He added with a hurt look as he turned around to leave the room, bumping into both his father and Soun as he exited.

“Hey, where are you going, boy?” Genma asked as he watched his offspring disappear up the stairs. From what he could sense, there was obviously something bugging him. Turning his attention back to the current occupants in the room, he could tell that something must have been said, due to the emotions that were hovering in the air.

Soun, unable to sense any emotions, but still aware that something was a miss, spoke up. “Did something happen between the four of you?”

“We just had a little misunderstanding is all, father.” Kasumi said with a small smile. In reality, she realized that it was much larger than that, and she couldn’t help but feel a large amount of regret in her accusation. The most likely reason was how hurt the Rakshasa looked, and the fact that he appeared so childlike in his normal form.

Akane wasn’t really sure how she felt. On one hand, she was outright disturbed by how a Rakshasa gained their energy. On the other, she felt somewhat bad after hearing what he had said. Sure, there was always the possibility that he was lying that he didn’t go that far, but for some reason, she just couldn’t come to that conclusion. ‘That’s got to be the most annoying way to survive.’ She was suddenly glad that all she needed was food and water. ‘Maybe he’s not all that bad.’ Akane realized what she was saying and quickly gave her head a shake. ‘No way! He’s a perverted weirdo.’ A perverted weirdo who didn’t seem all that bad, yes, but he was still just that.

Nabiki felt a slight pang of guilt, but she immediately pushed it to the side in favor of continuing to determine just how she could profit from this situation. With someone who could transform into just about anything, and read the minds of others, there was bound to be ways that she could use it to her advantage. The only problem would be that he could see into her own mind.

“Oh, I’ve been wondering.” Kasumi suddenly spoke up. “Was Ranma’s mother a Rakshasa? After-all, he had to have gotten it from somewhere.” Unless he was adopted, that is.

“Actually,” Genma said as he sat down, “He got it from me.” He allowed his form to change into that of his neutral appearance.

All three girls were shocked into silence at discovering that the man had been a Rakshasa all along, and it didn’t take long before they all gave a unanimous answer. “EHHH?!”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I think I'm going to have to change the paragraph with Ranma explaining how he doesn't just go around seducing people, since it probably would be a little hard to ask random people that and not get strange attention.

[borgrabbit]

the name ‘Kohana’ just wouldn't due for a boy,

do, due is 'owed' or 'owing to' something. (The weasel's grade was due to his families' obscene wealth and influence.)
"do" in this case indicates sufficiency, or lack thereof. (Babe quote: "That'll do, pig. That'll do.")