[Episode 3259] [Episode 3259]"ohhh..." Ranko awoke with a splitting headache, and the feeling that something was wrong. She wasn't exactly sure how to put it, only that something felt very different from what she remembered. She could feel the girls' school uniform around her; what disturbed her was that, for once, it didn't feel strange.
"Good evening, great-granddaughter."
Ranko turned quickly at the sound of the voice. "Great-grandmother? What happened?" She blinked. Great-grandmother? "What did you do to me?"
Cologne sighed. "First question, Great-granddaughter. Were you faking it?"
Ranko blushed. The idea of lying to Great-grandmother never occurred to her. "I... I was, Great-grandmother. I was trying to find out what you had planned and why you'd brainwashed the Tendos into thinking I was a girl." She blinked at an insistent voice inside her. "What did you have planned?"
Cologne sighed. "Exactly what you thought. I guessed that the entire household and school forcing you to be a girl would eventually drive you to bargain." She raised an eyebrow. "Though, to be honest, I never expected this..."
"Expected what, Great-grandmother?" Ranko asked.
Cologne set her staff to one side. "What's your name, child?"
Ranko answered automatically. "Ranko of the Nichieju." She blinked. "But... I was Saotome Ranma. How...?"
Cologne gave no emotion. "And are you a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," she answered, then shuddered. "I..."
"Get up, Great-granddaughter." Ranko obeyed, and stood before her. Cologne handed her a tub filled with bath products. "Come. Let's go for a bath."
Ranko blinked. "But there's a shower upstairs."
Cologne smiled. "Come, child. You will need this, I think." She picked up her own tub and opened the door for them to exit.
Evening had already come to Nerima; Ranko blinked at the strangeness of night after being out for so long. A few people stared at them as they passed; Ranko blushed at the attention, but kept her eyes forward. Everything felt strange, too strange for her liking (or maybe not strange enough), and Great-grandmother was the cause of it. She didn't want to look at anyone, didn't want to think about the way she felt... she didn't want any of it.
Finally, they came to the bathhouse; Cologne stopped Ranko before they entered. "After we pay and go into the women's changing section, I want you to use the Umisenken and go to the men's side, then splash yourself with hot water. Understand?"
"Perfectly," Ranko replied. The two walked into the bathhouse, paid their way in, and sat down in the changing area. Ranko stripped quickly, then looked at herself in the mirror.
She looked... well, she could look better, but she looked good. Good muscle tone, pert breasts, shapely legs... she could turn any man's head. A good body for a woman and a warrior...
"Ready?" Cologne whispered.
Ranko nodded, then wrapped her ki around herself. She'd done this a hundred times before in practice; she'd used it more rarely in practical applications. She slipped out of the women's changing area and through the men's.
Nobody saw her; she had her techniques, at least. She let her mind go through every technique she'd learned, from the Chestnut Fist to the Roaring Lion's Bullet. She had her techniques, clearly... but what of her life?
Her eyes widened when she entered the bath area. Manhood in all its glory; a boy scrubbed in the stall closest to the door, while his father kept a careful eye next to him. A trio of old men lay in the tub, chatting about arthritis and the weather. She blushed mildly at these, before she saw...
Ryouga relaxed in the hot water of the tub. She could see the way his muscles rippled with each movement, that muscle so rock-hard and yet flowing like perfect water; Ranma licked her lips unconsciously as she looked at his chest and lower torso. His dark eyes stared up at the ceiling, crystalline brown eyes that looked so perfect when not tainted by anger. His smile... good heavens, that smile could send any woman to her knees, and nearly sent Ranma to hers. She snuck a peek at his manhood, and smiled; he would make perfect husband material...
That's when she took a step back. She'd seen Ryouga naked dozens of times, stared at those same eyes, looked at those same muscles, glanced surreptitiously at that same penis, and never thought twice. This time, she wasn't just thinking twice, but third and fourth times. Ryouga had gone from 'friend' to 'Grade A Prime Beefcake' in her eyes - and it wasn't because Ryouga had changed.
This was what Great-grandmother had done. By invoking Amazon Law to get Shampoo's place in Amazon society, she'd been given an Amazon's heart. Saotome Ranma was just memory; all that remained were his memories within her.
She thought of Akane, and sighed. Conflicting emotions took over when she was involved. She still harbored love for the tomboy... but could she love a woman anymore?
Taking a deep breath, she walked toward one of the bath tubs. Soul had changed, and mind somewhat as well; what about body? She put her foot down...
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(Posted Mon, 14 Oct 2002 06:24)
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