“So now we have to stand up in front of the entire student body and tell them about our struggle against low self-esteem.”
“Even though you never had low self-esteem to begin with?”
Daria nodded. “Well, you know that, and we know that, but the powers that be say otherwise, so we must be wrong.”
Jane turned and shook her fist at the High School in the distance. “Curse you, Powers that Be!”
Ranma chuckled at Jane’s antics. “Well, better you than me.”
Jane glared at him. “Gee, I’m overwhelmed by your heart-felt concern.”
“You ate my lunch, and you expect me to feel sorry for you?”
Before Jane could answer, the sprinkler on the lawn they were passing sprayed water across the trio, setting them running out its range. Once they were a safe distance away, they set about shaking the water from their clothes and schoolbags. Jane smirked sardonically. “The perfect end to the perfect day.”
Ranma ignored her, poking himself in the chest with a confused look on his face.
Daria and Jane shared a look before speaking up. “Is something wrong? Ranma? Ranma!?”
He snapped back to attention. “Huh? What?”
The artist of the group rolled her eyes, repeating Daria’s question. “Is something wrong?”
Ranma shrugged. “Not ‘wrong’, exactly…it’s like something’s missing, or hasn’t happened.”
“What brought this on?”
The amnesic teen’s eyes closed, and he focussed. “The cold water.”
A feeling of weightlessness, sailing through the air, then being submerged in cold water. The water brought with it a tingling feeling, and a shifting of form…
The pigtailed martial artist shivered as a tingle swept through his body. ‘Ah, there it is.’ Twin gasps of shock made him open his eyes, and he saw the two females gaping at him. “What?” He blinked and brought a hand up to his throat. “What’s wrong with my voice?”
Jane was the first to snap out of her stupor. “I think your voice is the least of your problems.” To emphasise her point, she poked him in the chest, just as he…she was doing to himself herself earlier.
Ranma glanced down at Jane’s finger to see it sunk slightly into one of a pair of sizable mammaries that hadn’t been there earlier. “…hmm…”
“Doesn’t this surprise you at all?” Daria had recovered.
The new redhead shook her head, then scratched the back of her neck, chuckling slightly. “It should, shouldn’t it?”
“You just grew ‘talent’ that could rival Brittany’s, and you probably lost your manhood at the same time…”
Curious, Ranma lifted up her shirt slightly and pulled her pants out a little, checking though the small gap between her pants and body. “Yep, it’s gone.”
Daria’s hands shot out and she yanked Ranma’s shirt back down, a faint blush on her face. “Don’t do that out in the open, for crying out loud!”
Jane snorted in amusement. “At least we know you’re still a guy at heart.”
“Whatever. I wonder how I change back…”
A flood of hot water poured over her head, the tingling returned for a heartbeat, and he was a man again.
She shook the vague memory from her thoughts. “Never mind, I remember.”
Daria cocked her head slightly to the side. “You do?”
Ranma nodded. “Hot water.”
The two natural females quickly put the facts together, and Jane summed it up. “So cold water turns you into a Playboy centrefold, and hot water turns you back into a Playgirl centrefold, right?”
The naïve redhead frowned. “What’s a Playboy centrefold?”
The bespectacled member of the trio sighed. “Cold water turns you into a girl, hot water changes you back into a guy.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s what happens.”
“But you don’t change right away?”
“That kind of bothers me; from what little I remember, I should change instantly when I get hit with water.”
Daria shrugged and started walking again. “The sooner we get back to your place, the sooner we can figure this out.” Ranma and Jane nodded and followed suit.
After walking in silence for a block or so, Jane spoke up. “So, is this transsexual thing some kind of secret martial arts transformation technique?”
Ranma shrugged. “Maybe. But why the hell would I learn something that makes me change genders?”
“Hey, don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Daria frowned. “That’s not funny, Jane.”
The youngest Lane snickered. “It’s a little funny.”
A shout from across the street caught their attention. “DARIA! JANE!”
The trio turned to see Mack crossing the road, and Ranma waved while Jane and Daria looked curious. “Hey Mack!”
Mack arched an eyebrow curiously. “Um…hi.” He turned away from the redhead to speak to Daria. “If you see Ranma, can you tell him that Coach Gibbs has told the footballers to do everything they can to get him on the team? Some of the guys can be pretty persistent.” He grimaced. “And stupid.”
Jane grinned and pushed Ranma towards the African American athlete. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?”
The Captain of the Football team stared down at the busty redhead for a long moment, before turning back to Daria. “Seriously, can you tell him for me, next time you see him?”
Ranma interrupted. “Um, Mack? It’s really me; Ranma.”
Mack took another look, and blinked as he noticed her eyes; Ranma’s eyes. The clothes looked to be made to fit someone noticeably taller, and the shoes were several sizes to big. He took a long look up and down the street before turning back to the trio. “Assuming this isn’t some prank being filmed for my internationally televised humiliation, what the hell is going on?”
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(Posted Sun, 29 May 2005 15:40)
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