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princesscolumbia · 10 months ago

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Ānzhuōniichuan - Chapter 2

Insomnia has been making a total mess of my ability to do things, including doing the stuff necessary to get rid of the insomnia. On the plus side, I've managed to get enough sleep this last week to recover enough to finished a chapter, so please enjoy:

Summary:

Ranma and Ryoga's journey, now with their new Chinese friend Xian Pu, takes them to a dojo in Japan.

Notes:

Been dealing with insomnia that's played merry hell on my ability to get, like, ANY writing done 'cause I'm just out of spoons before the morning is half over. Finally managed to grab a few time slices as I've been forcing myself to recover to get this written. Lost Little Wolf - The Minor Key Ch. 14, Double Isekai Ch. 10, Return to Recipient Ch. 6, And at This Point I'm Afraid to Ask Ch. 5, Deviation Ch. 9, Lost in the Dark Pt. 1 Ch. 2, Fission Ch. 10 Pt 2, and a few unpublished works are still on deck and work will continue...even if a bit slowly.

Preview below the cut:

Akane sat on her heels in the way that her friend Sayuri had marveled at since they were in elementary school together, feet flat on the ground, her knees up against her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, and chin resting on the little nook between her kneecaps. She was watching Ranma as the (currently) girl sat cross-legged in front of the family shrine. Ranma's eyes seemed to drift back to the largest picture on the shrine quite regularly; Akane's mother. Tears formed a track down the redhead's cheeks, and Akane had to admit that this part-time girl looked very cute and (dare she say it?) huggable. Akane was doing everything she could to fight the impulse to wrap her arms around Ranma and just hold her until the crying stopped.

"...stupid pops..." Ranma sniffled for probably the twentieth time since they'd come out here.

"Ranma..." Akane ventured, "Why did you turn yourself into a girl?"

Ranma blinked the most recent tears out of her eyes and turned to Akane, seeming like she was waking up from a daydream. "Huh? Oh..." she wiped the tracks off her face and said, "Didn't wanna cry as a guy. Aint manly."

Akane snorted, "'Manly'? What's being a man got to do with it?"

Ranma took a deep breath, "Nothin' really, just..." she wiped at her eyes again, "...pops just always kept hammerin' on me 'bout bein' 'manly,' and I thought that's just how guys'r'supposed to learn how to be guys. 'A real man does this,' 'a real man acts like that'... 'course, half'a that was the same as the bullshit 'bout bein' honorable, an' he never was."

Akane settled herself into a proper sitting position, opting for cross-legged like Ranma was doing instead of the seiza that 'proper girls' were 'supposed' to do. Yeah, she could sit seiza, but sometimes cross-legged was more comfortable. "Seems like your father was a jerk," she said, trying to keep Ranma talking.

The redhead sighed, "Yeah, Ryoga and Xian are helpin' me see that and tryin' to teach me how to be, I dunno, the kinda person I want to be. Still gotta long way to go, though. Like, I still don't know what I said wrong earlier."

Akane scrunched her brow in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"When I asked if you were a glass cannon," she sighed, "I just...a glass cannon is somethin' that can pack a hell of a punch but breaks real easy. Sometimes that's just how some martial artists are, I'm just tryin' to ask a question but something I said is wrong..." Ranma went from a little bit sad to teeth-grittingly frustrated in the space of a few words, her hands suddenly bunched into fists.

Akane found herself momentarily at a loss for words, "...but...being called a 'glass cannon' is a bad thing. Like you're trying to make fun of someone for having a weak defense."

Ranma turned to look at Akane, her jaw slightly slack, "But...I'm not trying to...I just...what?!" Her bunched fists were suddenly up and scrubbing at her eyes as a stuttering sob escaped her again, "F-fucking pops!" she stammered out, "R...Ryoga thought I h-hated him 'cause I just used the same things pops did to get me to spar with him! And since w-we started travelin' t-together with Xian they..." she heaved a couple of sobbing hiccups, "They've been t-tryin' t'teach me not to be mean 'r' cruel, an' it's like everything I say is mean! I thought that's just h-how you knew someone c-cared! And...and pops taught me that!"

Akane couldn't hold back any longer. She practically threw her arms around the smaller girl, muttering the little calming phrases and making the noises that Kasumi did whenever she couldn't handle the stress of life any longer or the Hentai Horde was particularly aggressive and nobody else would listen.

The two of them sat for a while, Ranma safely curled up in Akane's arms, the taller girl gently rubbing Ranma's back to comfort her. After the tears finally petered out, Akane realized that she was feeling something she hadn't expected for someone who'd revealed they were born a boy under the fabric of the silk shirt. She paused in her up and down motion, fingertips gently probing back and forth. Before Ranma's back could tense up any further, she asked, "Ranma...is that a bra?"

The redhead let out a nervous chuckle, "Y-yeah, got it a couple days after we got back to Japan. I had...no idea that there was such a thing as a sports bra, but...it works for me an' Ryoga 'cause of the curse." They disengaged enough for Ranma to look down at her own chest, as though the shirt wasn't there, "Pull 'em on like a shirt, the band stretches when we get hit with hot water and nothin' in the cups to really stick out or be obvious when we're in guy forms." She sighed, mostly seeming to need the breath to recover from the emotional outburst, "Didn't know...pops always made it seem like women wore bras 'cause they were weak or somethin'. Xian got kinda sick o' me fightin' without wearing one an' challenged me t'wear one during a spar an'...well, I don't think I wanna go without one ever again while I'm practicin' the Art, and since everything's practice..." she shrugged.

Akane could say quite well she didn't know any boys that didn't want to do martial arts without a bra. Now that Ranma seemed to have regained some of her emotional equilibrium, they separated, both now sitting cross-legged and facing each other. "Ranma...do...um..."

Ranma, for her part, just sat and waited for Akane to get her thoughts in order.

Akane took a deep breath, "I...my sister was right, I've been...every morning I have to fight a horde of boys just to get into school. And they made it clear they're intention is to overpower me and..." she swallowed, the fear she used to fuel her anger every day welling up inside her, "...take advantage of me."

"What?!" snapped Ranma as she started from her seated position. To her credit, she seemed to come to her senses and sit back down, "...sorry," she muttered.

Akane smiled, her expression pinched from the anxiety of the morning brawls bubbling inside but grateful that she seemed to have stumbled onto someone who was just as indignant about it as she was, "Thank you, Ranma. But," she took another deep breath, "I guess I've been letting them twist how I see boys up..."

Ranma nodded, "An' if yer enemy gets inta your head, then they're the ones pickin' the battlefield."

Akane mirrored Ranma's nod, "So because I need to...overcome this weakness, I need to ask you a question and hope it's not, like, the rudest question I could possibly ask."

Ranma tilted her head in a motion that reminded Akane of nothing less than a kitten encountering an ice cube for the first time, like she had no idea what was going to happen next but curiosity was driving her to learn no matter what and damn the consequences.

Taking that as encouragement, Akane plowed ahead, "Are you a boy or a girl?" She bit her lip, suppressing her embarrassment at having even had to ask.

Ranma's gaze seemed to turn inward, "...you know, I guess I'm a little of both?" she said after a while. "I mean, before the curse, I'd've told you I was a guy, 100 percent, but a lotta that was based on what my pops said, and we both know how much of a dumbass he was. But...I mean, I like bein' a guy sometimes. I want to be taller and more muscular and have longer reach an' all that. And sometimes I just like seein'..." she blushed, "Um...what I was born with between my legs." Akane blushed at that as well, which Ranma clearly picked up on because she said her next sentence in a tumble of words, "Not, like, in a hentai way or nuthin', but just 'cause it's, you know, what I 'spect t'see. But since I got the curse, I'm...I dunno, kinda seein' lots of stuff different. Like, chocolate is different!"

"It is?!" blurted Akane.

Ranma nodded enthusiastically, "And ice cream with chocolate? Gods! No comparison! I mean, I never got the 'guys don't eat sweets' thing before, but when I'm in girl mode it's like my tongue was made for sweets! And..." she blushed, "I...kinda like lookin' cute and...pretty. And I'd kinda like t'wear a dress an' just...be a girl for a bit."

Akane found herself smiling, easily imagining taking the redhead on a shopping trip with her friends Yuka and Sayuri.

Ranma grimaced, "Aint a fan of the cramps, though."

Akane thought her eyes would pop out of her head, "...cramps...?! Like, you have a period?!"

The redhead tossed her head back and let out a melodramatic groan that lasted nearly thirty seconds before slumping down (clearly exaggeratedly) and grumping, "Apparently I'm an 'early developer,' 'cording to Xian's granny. They weren't expectin' Ryoga or me to have our periods for, like, two months or somethin' so didn't say nothin' at first 'cause Xian was already fixin' to give me an' Ryoga 'the talk.' Then 'bout a week after we got back to Japan I woke up hurtin' like crazy and Xian had t'call home 'cause she thought it was somethin' else and Elder Ku Lon just laughed her wrinkly ass off so loud I could hear it over the phone an' across the room." She straightened, "Aint..." she turned green, "Bleedin' yet, but I gotta carry a pad around just in case now."

"But...you change back and forth, right? Can't you just, I don't know, stay a guy as much as possible during it?"

Ranma curled her lips and stuck out her tongue in irritation, "That's what I asked first thing. The magic of the curse aint, like, givin' me a new body every time. It's just flippin' me back an' forth between bein' a guy and bein' a girl like I'd been one the whole time. I can stop the period with hot water, but the second I flip back to girl-mode the period picks up right where it left off. Now I gotta wear either panties or briefs no matter what 'cause boxers sure as hell don't hold a pad."

Akane paled slightly, "Oh, um, are you...? Is it...?"

Ranma shrugged, "Nah, that was last week and was short 'cause I guess it was my body's first time an' all. But it was two days and tryin' to hide that your pad's slipping fucking sucks, let me tell you."

Akane turned as scarlet as her name for a bit as she imagined being in a similar situation. Frantically trying to drown out her scattered thoughts, she asked, "So when should I think of you as a boy?"

Ranma shrugged again, "Any time I am one, I guess. Xian and Ryoga've been tellin' me to use hot or cold water whenever I'm feelin' more 'boy' or 'girl.' That's why I got the water in there," she pointed to the house, "When I was feelin' like I needed to cry. I just...don't feel much like a boy, so I changed."

"Huh...I guess you're kind of lucky like that."

The smaller girl's face scrunched in confusion, "What are you talking about? It's a curse!"

Akane held up a hand placatingly, "Yes, and it's awful that it happened to anyone, but there've been times I kinda wished I could turn into a boy to take on the horde. Not really any other time, but if I could just once take 'em on as a man I bet they'd think twice about trying again the next day."

Ranma's smile was strained but sympathetic, "I guess I can see that."

"So do you...I guess... 'switch' mentally, too?"

Ranma shook her head, but then seemed to think about it and tentatively bobbed her head in a single nod, "I didn't think I did at first, but lately if someone says 'he' or 'him' about me when I'm in girl-mode, I start lookin' around for who they're talkin' about. And a few days ago I had a cop tryin' to look me up...long story, but we'd had more'n a few times the cops tried t'put me in jail 'cause my pops used my name for his bullshit, an' I was just...tired of it and already in girl mode, so I made up the name 'Ranko,' kinda on the spot, and yesterday I was in girl-mode and Ryoga said my name...er, she said 'Ranma' three times before I realized she was talkin' to me 'cause I just kinda started thinkin' of my girl-mode as 'Ranko.'"

They were quiet for a bit, the sound of the rain muting the rest of the outside, making them feel like their entire world was just the dojo.

He...she has periods, wears a bra, thinks of herself as a girl... Akane could almost feel her worldview shifting around in her head, I mean, sure, sometimes he is a boy, but even as a boy he was treating me better than any of the boys at school...ESPECIALLY Kuno! She had no idea what this meant for her in the larger context of her life, but her family's school was all about learning and adapting and growing in spite of everything thrown at you and becoming better than everyone else because of what was thrown at you.

She came to a decision, though exactly what the conclusion was or the path to get there she couldn't say. Smiling warmly, she reached out and offered her hand to Ran...ko. "Well, then hello Ranko, I'm Akane. Would you like to be friends?"

Akane didn't really understand the phrase 'lighting up the room with a smile' until that moment when Ranma practically glowed in response to Akane's offer.

Read the whole thing on AO3

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cutesilyo · 21 days ago

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i'd be at peace (if it weren't for you) — a ranma 1/2 fanfic

Look, if Akane was having trouble figuring out her own feelings for Ranma, then she certainly wasn’t going to notice whatever the hell he had going on with Ryoga.

Or, five times that Akane probably should have suspected that her fiance was a little in love with his rival, and the one time she finally figured things out. The prequel to take your dreams and make them multiply.

TAGS: Saotome Ranma/Tendou Akane, Hibiki Ryouga/Saotome Ranma (Pre-Relationship), Hibiki Ryouga/Saotome Ranma/Tendou Akane (Pre-Relationship), Pre-OT3, Comedy, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Mild Hibiki Ryouga/Unryuu Akari, Male Pronouns for Saotome Ranma, Saotome Ranma Needs a Hug, 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, Prequel

Also available on: AO3, FF.net

—

The first thing, Akane supposed, was that Ranma went cat.

Nerima’s cat population had somehow tripled in numbers with the revelation that her fiance was deathly afraid of felines. Their fathers laughed, Kasumi tutted, Nabiki snorted, Akane grimaced, and Ranma solemnly swore that the universe was out to get him. It was funny at first. After all, who wouldn’t laugh at man amongst men, the greatest martial artist this side of Tokyo, the great Saotome Ranma falling face-flat on the ground at the slightest hint of a mew? But Akane’s internal amusement was slowly bleeding into equal parts concern and annoyance.

On one hand, what the hell had happened to Ranma that kittens activated a full trauma response?

On the other hand, dragging him home by the pigtail as he convulsed in fear was getting old.

(There was also the Kissing Incident, that first time, which she resolutely refused to think about for reasons she did not want to name. School was more important. School was, if nothing else, easier to figure out.)

All things considered, it was only a matter of time until one of their crazy suitors popped up.

“Saotome Ranma, prepare to—” Ryoga growled, leaping out from nowhere.

“Nya,” said Ranma. He licked his hand, grooming and preening.

Ryoga stopped, hanging in the air for a moment until he landed on the ground, concrete breaking at his feet. Confusion was clear on his face.

At least she didn’t need to break them apart this time. Akane would have hated to lose another hour that she could’ve spent on homework and training. “Hi Ryoga,” she greeted. “Please don’t mind Ranma today. He’s not in the right state, as you can see.”

“A-Akane!” Ryoga stammered. He flitted his eyes between her and Ranma, who was now looking at the intruder with wide, curious eyes. No snarling or hissing, Akane noted. “The . . . Neko-ken again, is that right?”

Akane nodded. “You know of it?”

“Just that it makes Ranma go like this,” said Ryoga. He put his umbrella away. Akane started walking, eager to get home — really, the number of things she had to review for tomorrow’s test was borderline unreasonable — and he followed. Ranma ambled along with them on all fours, meowing agreeably as he trotted beside Ryoga. “He did this in middle school too. Must have been a lot of cats around today, huh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe!” Akane complained, and Ryoga laughed a bit. “But I’m glad you’re here, Ryoga. He seems to trust you a lot.”

Ranma nuzzled his leg.

Gently, Ryoga bent down and pet him.

Later, during dinner, Ranma was purring inhumanly loud as he sat between Akane and Ryoga.

Even later, Ranma snapped out of his trance shortly after settling on Ryoga’s lap. His angry scream shook the rooftops. Within seconds, Ryoga was swiftly kicked out of the house, the other boy becoming a faint twinkle in the starry night sky.

“Nothing happened, ‘ya hear?” Ranma shouted after him, flushing as red as his girl form’s hair.

Huh, Akane thought. With Sanzaenin he had burst out crying, and with Kuno he tended to turn white and then start kicking. Apparently affection from Ryoga only warranted a bit of embarrassment. She probably should have suspected something, but she was determined to stay focused on schoolwork rather than whatever the hell was going on with Ranma — who always had something going on that she’d be dragged into sooner or later anyway.

He could live one day without her worrying. Which she totally wasn’t doing, by the way.

“I really need good marks tomorrow,” Akane told P-chan that night. “So I can’t waste time on my dumb fiance or whatever fights he wants to pick.”

P-chan nodded with all the seriousness his little pig body could muster.

—

The second thing that happened was that Ranma went girl.

“You look really cute, Ran-chan,” grinned Ukyo. “Nice dress.”

“It’s all because of my smokin’ hot bod,” Ranma said proudly. He even twirled a bit, just to showcase how graceful the skirt moved and to flash some leg. He really did have nice legs in his girl form, all slender and smooth and beautifully shaped. Not that Akane was ever going to tell him that. “Y’know, Ryoga totally folded when I said I was his fiance and all that crap. I’m just so irresistible as a girl.”

Ukyo giggled, tickled beyond belief at Ranma’s antics. Ranma laughed with her.

In Akane’s arms, P-chan snorted with disgust. She felt like doing the same. The addition of another fiance was already getting on her nerves. And this one was a cute, spunky childhood friend? Who can cook? The gods must love testing her.

“It wasn’t fair to make a fool out of Ryoga like that, Ranma,” Akane scolded. “Don’t you feel sorry enough for him as it is? That poor boy is always getting lost and you’re just playing with him!”

Ranma jutted out his petite chin, much too masculine for how dainty he looked, gaze sharp. “Yeah, and what’s it to you, tomboy? Jealous?”

“You’re a jerk and a pervert!”

“For the record, he was the one perving on me.”

“Because you’re an idiot who thought you could dress up as a girl and not face any consequences—”

“No, you’re the idiot who thought it was a good idea to give him a chance when you don’t even like him—”

“Who says I don’t?” Akane challenged. She smiled mockingly at her fiance, whose eyes were practically flaming as bright red as his hair. “Oh, I see. You’re upset that Ryoga went on a date with me. Again. And you think I’m the jealous one here?”

Ranma’s muscles tensed, looking more furious than she had ever seen him, and Akane probably should have backed down at how genuinely angry he looked. But Akane was a martial artist — Ranma’s hot, intense glare made a thrill rush through her body. I’ve done it, she thought, I’ve finally rattled you the same way you constantly rattle me. Will you fight me, Ranma? Will you finally fight me for real?

But the fire faded in a moment’s blink. Ranma crossed his arms.

“You’re seriously uncute,” he sneered.

Akane reeled her fist back, ready to punch his dumb face to the ground, when a large spatula suddenly blocked her way. P-chan squealed in alarm.

“Hey now, sugar,” Ukyo said. “Let’s focus on getting our little lady home in one piece, shall we? I bet Ran-chan is itching to be a guy again.”

“Thanks Ucchan. At least I know one of my fiances has got my back,” Ranma said.

The pair turned their backs to her — Ukyo with a wink, Ranma with a haughty sniff — walking ahead to Akane’s own home. Pettily, Akane stuck her tongue out at them. P-chan let out an angry huff in solidarity.

Akane willed herself to calm down with the few peaceful memories she had of the day: her dress looked nice, even though she didn’t have her fiance say anything about it; her cherry lemonade drink was surprisingly good, before her date started slamming his head on the wall; the boat ride was off to a good start, but then . . . and of course, she and Ranma had to fight again just now . . .

On second thought, maybe Kasumi would have better calming techniques than their father.

She lifted P-chan up in the air, hoping her little pig could give her some answers. “Why does Ranma get in such a tizzy whenever Ryoga’s involved?”

P-chan only blinked at her, just as lost as Akane was.

—

They didn’t talk about the koi rod. Ranma pretended it never happened. Akane didn’t know why, but the one time she tried to bring it up, her fiance had screamed loudly with his fingers in his ears. Akane had rolled her eyes at his childishness. She wanted to tease him and say, All the stupid things we’ve been through together, and yet that stupid little prank is the one you want to forget? Still, she was a kind soul at heart, and there was no harm in humoring Ranma every now and then.

Perhaps, in hindsight, that whole thing should’ve been a clue in itself.

—

So, instead of the Incident That Was Not An Incident, Akane looked back on the aftermath of the fight with Herb as the third thing that should have raised her suspicions.

“Man, great welcome,” Ranma snarked, when he came back. Came back home, to her, alive and well just like she knew he would be. She should have pulled his pigtail for that comment. As it was, Akane felt the tears prick her eyes.

The weeks that Ranma spent away meant that Akane had gotten used to spending her spare moments thinking about how he was doing. Nerima was quiet in his absence. It was hard to believe that this was what her normal life was before — no waking up to a panda splashing into their koi pond, no panic over constantly making sure she had a kettle within arm’s reach, no flighty fiance bickering with her from day start to night end. Akane had gone through her days alternating between being restless and being bored. Better that than being a worry-wart, she had thought, determinedly ignoring the sick anxiety that slowly crept in her gut.

“Dummy,” Akane muttered into his chest.

“Um,” Ranma squeaked, in that high voice he did whenever he was flustered out of his mind.

He didn’t hug her back. She didn’t care. Ranma had returned, victorious like always.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t worry about Ranma and Shampoo at all,” Mousse mused. Ryoga sank deeper into the furo, angrily snorting bubbles.

In her arms, Akane felt Ranma freeze. She braced herself for her fiance to push her away, another loud bluster of denial that would signal the recurrence of their old routine, readying her stance.

But Ranma only gently pulled at her sleeves, eyes darting at the boys in the bathroom as he turned pink. “Akane,” he murmured, “maybe not here? Not in front of them?”

“Oh right, because it’s embarrassing and unmanly to receive affection,” Akane said, trying to goad him. Sue her, she missed pushing his buttons. Surely this was where he would crack. They had a nice, comfortable script that they slipped into: this was the part where the vulnerability faded, Akane would be greatly mad at a small misunderstanding, Ranma would flail around in his panic and let his own pride get the best of him, rinse, and repeat until someone messed with their rhythm again.

“Later,” Ranma said instead.

Akane blinked but went along. “Okay.”

Later was that night, after Ryoga and Mousse had their share of celebratory dinner and left. When everyone else had settled into their own nightly routines, Ranma and Akane shared a glance and silently made their way to the dojo.

“Don’t tell Pops about this,” Ranma said, bringing out a small cake that was already cut into slices. He sat on the floor, setting a medium-sized handkerchief and two forks in front of him.

This was new. But who was Akane to refuse secret dessert?

She sat down facing him, taking a big bite. “This is really good,” Akane said. “So what’s all this about?”

“I was just cravin’ something sweet.”

“No, the thing earlier.”

“Ah.” Ranma hummed, stalling for time. “I don’t really know. Guess I was just trying to be nice. Y’know they don’t have have any girls to welcome them back after a trip like that. They’re real sad sacks.”

Akane snorted. “Thought you would’ve wanted to shove that in their faces.”

“Maybe tomorrow. Not today. I mean, the whole reason they went on that trip is because they wanted to cure their curses, and they didn’t even get to do that, so.” Ranma shrugged. “Ryoga almost died back there because he chose to fight by my side. It just got me thinking like, I could probably ease up on him sometimes. As my way of saying thanks.”

Oh, Ryoga. Akane bit her lip. She didn’t really see how the Kettle of Liberation would have helped with his directional curse, but she still felt guilty over the whole thing happening because Ranma leapt to her defense. “I should really send him a care package. Do you think he’d like some cookies?”

Ranma snickered. “I think I’d better make the cookies with ‘ya if they’re really meant to be a gift, tomboy. And I don’t know if you wanna send perishables to Ryoga. We’ll be lucky to see him within the next month.”

“Then just find him, dummy,” Akane said, fighting off a smile. Somehow, when she was laughing with Ranma like this, being called a tomboy didn’t sound so bad. “You probably know where his tent is better than he does. You definitely know his house better than he does.”

“Shirokuro’s such a good dog,” Ranma said affectionately. He took out another slice for them to share. “Glad she still recognized me. I mean, I’d be surprised if she didn’t, but it’s been years since I last dropped Ryoga off. I used to have to clean his house for him, Akane. Me, cleaning. For him.”

Akane giggled, trying to imagine what Ranma and Ryoga looked like in their middle school days. “One of these days, you’re going to admit you see Ryoga as a friend.”

Ranma flicked a crumb at her. “He’s my rival.”

“A friendly rival.”

“He’s just, y’know, someone I fight with.”

“In a friendly sort of way.”

“In an I hate him sort of way.”

“Whatever you say.” Akane volleyed a crumb back at him. He caught it mid-air with a smirk. “So what does that make Mousse then? You fight with him often enough. He’s been an ally to you almost as many times as Ryoga has. He even went with you for Herb. That should count for something.”

“He’s,” Ranma waved his hand dismissively, “irrelevant. Too Shampoo-brained.”

Akane rolled her eyes in fond amusement. “Do you even hear yourself right now?”

“Look, at least I know me and Ryoga have a shared respect for the art,” Ranma argued. “Mousse waves around some silly blades and calls it a day. Ryoga trained by himself to get where he is — no dojo, no panda, no weird village. He actually wants to be the best, same as I do. That’s why he’s my rival. Even though he’s still got a long way to go before he even has a chance of besting me.”

“Aww,” Akane cooed. “That was almost sweet of you.”

Ranma flushed pink.

They actually managed to finish the cake. Not that Akane was in any doubt, with Ranma and his black hole of a stomach around, but she ate almost as much as him and was feeling quite drowsy. She yawned. In silent agreement, they took that as their cue to go to bed.

Akane stopped at her door. “This was nice, Ranma.”

“Oh,” Ranma said, suddenly big-eyed and shy. “I just got that cake by stealing Pops’ money . . .”

For the sake of not ruining her good mood, she decided to ignore that. Akane crossed a few steps over to her fiance, a smile on her lips, watching him widen his eyes and go still. They were in the hallway, not even knowing if the rest of the house was already asleep, but it was as much privacy as they could get.

She hugged him.

“A-Akane—” Ranma stammered.

“I’m saying thank you, dummy,” Akane said. She was really glad Ranma couldn’t see her face. “Ryoga and Mousse aren’t around anymore, so this should be fine, right?”

This time, Ranma pushed her off him. He pointed a finger at her, eyebrows drawn in a familiar furrow, taking on a magnificent battle aura filled with top-grade bluster and S-tier embarrassment. “Who said anything about being happy with getting hugged in the dark by a violent, barrel-bodied, macho chick like you, huh?!”

On the inside, she grinned.

On the outside, Akane brought out her trusty mallet, chasing her fiance around the house with an angry yell.

—

The fourth thing that happened was that Ranma went matchmaker.

“I can’t be grateful enough,” Akari said happily. She was sopping wet, her dress was ruined, and her matching hat was sinking into the lake, but she had the biggest smile on her face anyway. “Thank you Ranma, thank you Akane, for making sure I could be reunited with my Ryoga!”

Akane spared a glance at her fiance, half-expecting him to roll his eyes at Akari’s sincerity. But no, he was bright-eyed and flushed, genuinely pleased to be thanked for his efforts. She didn’t know why Ranma was so invested in making sure Ryoga and Akari worked out — she wasn’t really sure what a countryside pig farmer had in common with a wandering martial artist, aside from maybe a shared wild side — but she was just glad to see Ranma trying to be a good friend to Ryoga instead of messing with him all the time.

If nothing else, Akari’s cheery disposition was a good match for Ryoga’s gruff melancholy. Akane smiled back. “It was no trouble. I’m glad you two found each other.”

“Yeah, this idiot needs all the help he can get,” Ranma laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Can you imagine being so stupid that you can’t understand such a dumb, basic map? I don’t know how you have the patience, Akari, because if I almost got stood up like that—”

“It wasn’t you, so you can just shut it,” Ryoga snapped.

Ranma looked at Ryoga slyly. “And here I was, about to give Akari some advice so she doesn’t lose ‘ya again! Out of the honest goodness of my heart. But I suppose if Ryoga wants me to keep my mouth shut . . .”

It was such obvious bait that Akane almost laughed. Meanwhile, Akari turned pleading eyes to her . . . boyfriend? Pen pal? Whatever they were.

“Surely we can hear him out!” Akari said.

Ryoga sighed. “You just don’t know Ranma that well. Don’t trust him, Akari. This man is full of nothing but trickery and deception, leaving nothing but heartbreak in his wake.”

“Ranma won’t try anything this time,” Akane assured. “Right, Ranma?”

Her fiance only beamed winningly, which did not inspire much confidence.

Akari stomped over to Ranma herself. Emphatically, she said, “Please tell me. You’re my dear Ryoga’s oldest, closest friend and you know him best out of anyone I know. I’m sure you have many ways to help deal with his horrible sense of direction.”

“’Ya flatter me,” Ranma said. “I really only know just the one. But I promise, it works.”

He took Akari’s hand.

Akari blinked.

Akane’s eye twitched.

Ryoga made a sound not unlike a startled elephant. “Bastard, what the hell—”

“Relax about it,” Ranma said, and he took Ryoga’s hand too. The other boy rapidly went red. Ryoga sputtered even more when Ranma linked his and Akari’s hands together. Akane knew the grin on her fiance’s face only showed when he was at his most self-satisfied. “See? That wasn’t so bad. He’s dumb as rocks, so he makes a natural follower anyhow. This way, you can lead him wherever you wanna go, and this is like tested and proven stuff, Akari. I would know.”

Akari’s eyes were shining with tears. “You’re just as caring as a pig, Ranma.”

“Thanks Ranma,” Ryoga said begrudgingly. “You actually helped me.”

Ranma smiled, his gaze looking so soft and gentle in the mountain haze that it made Akane’s heart flutter. “Of course. I’m happy to.”

The pair waved goodbye before turning their backs, hand in hand, heading off for a stroll.

“That was very kind of you. Ryoga deserves it,” Akane said.

“Well, whatever makes him happy, right?” Ranma folded his arms behind his head, playing at nonchalance. She looked at him inquiringly. “Look, it’s just like you said before. He’s the unluckiest guy in the world. Now, by some miracle, there’s a girl who likes him exactly as he is, no questions asked. Their whole puppy love schtick with each other is the most uncomplicated thing he’s got going for him. He should get to enjoy that when he can, y’know?”

“I’m impressed.”

Ranma wrinkled his nose. “What, that I’ve got basic empathy?”

“No,” Akane grinned. “This is the closest you’ve come to admitting you care for Ryoga.”

He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t deny it. Instead, he watched Akari and Ryoga laugh with each other as they walked around the lake, an oddly wistful expression on his face. Akane fought the urge to take his hand in comfort.

—

The fifth thing that happened was Ranma went quiet.

“Oh dear,” Nodoka sighed. “Is my son not having dinner a common occurrence?”

Kasumi frowned. “Not at all,” she said slowly. “In fact, and pardon my rudeness, Ranma is known to be a bit of glutton. I don’t know why he would suddenly . . . has there been anyone troubling him at school, Nabiki?”

Nabiki lazily turned a page in the magazine she was reading. “How would I know? Ask Akane.”

“You have a habit of knowing more than you should,” Akane grumbled. She was a bit cross with her sister; she had caught her rifling through her closet again. Addressing her fiance’s mother, she said, “But there hasn’t been anything at school, Auntie. Nothing that I noticed outside school either. I think Ranma’s just being moody.”

“Mood doesn’t affect his stomach,” Kasumi said.

“Oh, it’s happened here and there,” Genma said. He had been in human form more and more often lately since the Saotomes moved in. Maybe it was Auntie Nodoka’s influence, who expressed her clear preference for her husband’s and son’s non-cursed forms. “Like when we went on our first training trip, for instance. Boy was crying so much he couldn’t eat! Then there was when he saw his first cat after learning the Neko-ken, and the day we left for China . . .”

Genma trailed off. The air in the room was getting steelier and colder with every word out of his mouth. “Er, of course, I trained him out of such unmanly behavior,” he said pathetically.

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Soun said, patting his friend on the back. “There comes a time when every young man faces his demons. This is just part of Ranma’s journey. We should let him be.”

Everyone seemed to accept that.

Everyone except Akane, who liked to think of herself as the resident expert in making sure Ranma never had to face anything on his own.

But there was no Ranma to be found, even when Akane searched the house three times over. Not in the guest room, not in the furo, not in the kitchen, and not in the living room. With a groan, she wiped the building sweat on her brow. The warm spring winds in Nerima were no match for the severe dehydration she went through just a few weeks prior, but that didn’t mean she was immune to the sticky discomforts of humidity.

“What’s wrong with you this time, Ranma?” she murmured into the dark.

Her room was empty too. Figures. Not that Akane really expected to see her fiance there. No, for all his faults, Ranma had never barged into her room without a reason. The only time she really remembered him sneaking around outside of training was after that big fight with Ryoga . . .

On a whim, she went outside her bedroom window and leapt to the rooftop.

Sitting at the far edge was her fiance, huddling his knees together. His hair was blowing with the lingering sakura blossoms from this morning’s bloom, looking so small and fragile that it made her heart ache. A gleaming silver bell hung from his neck.

“Ranma . . .” Akane’s voice died out, her initial plan to anger him into normalcy fading away.

“Guess there was never any hiding from you, huh?” Ranma said, a sad little twitch on his lips. It looked so wrong on his face that she almost flinched back from the shock of it; the great Saotome Ranma never looked sad. He idly fingered his cat collar. “The Bell of Inner Reflection. Shampoo wanted me to be honest with my feelings. Didn’t really work out for her. Dunno why she ever thought it would.”

“So you’re cursed to tell the truth.”

“What I think is the truth, though I’m not sure what the big difference is anyhow,” Ranma corrected. “I can’t take it off by myself.”

“Of course you can’t,” Akane said. She crouched down beside him, bringing out a packed bento box. “I promised your mom I’d give you some food when I found you. Made by Kasumi, obviously, so you don’t have to worry about getting poisoned by me.”

Ranma took it. “I wouldn’t mind eating your cooking, Akane,” he said quietly.

“What a joke, I can’t believe you’re trying to—” she stopped as Ranma bared his neck, the bell glinting in the moonlight. Akane swallowed. “Right.”

Her heart thundered in her chest. This was it, she realized. This past year of fighting and pretense could end right now. With one question and one tiny bell, she could finally bring out what neither Jusendo nor their failed wedding could not. The truth of Ranma’s feelings towards her, spoken into existence at last, would spark the change she’s wanted all this time.

But to do so, Akane would have to force it out of him. She couldn’t hurt him like that.

“Have you just been here all day?” she asked instead.

“More or less,” Ranma said, in between bites of tonkatsu. “I wanted to avoid people. No chance of getting mobbed with questions if nobody even sees me.”

Akane’s eyebrows raised. “Shampoo didn’t give chase?”

Ranma shook his head. “Too in shock. Mousse held her back. One would hope she’d finally give up after that. Who knows? I thought everybody would figure me out after Jusendo anyway.”

He tensed, obviously expecting Akane to prod, but she held herself back. She smiled at her fiance, teasing. “And not a single one of your suitors found you, even though you were just at home?”

“They’re pretty dumb,” Ranma said, and Akane laughed. It was nice to know her fiance found it all ridiculous too. “No, seriously. I don’t even know why they’re so stuck on a guy like me. Sometimes I don’t even feel all that much like a guy anymore, which makes them even dumber. I really wish they’d move on and bother someone else. I’m so tired. You don’t even know.”

“Kuno’s certainly not stuck on a ‘guy’,” Akane said, trying to keep the conversation light. Ranma groaned. She laughed again. “Sorry, I just find it hard to believe. You’re stuck with a magical artifact that’s really easy to take advantage of and nobody’s managed to make a mess of it yet.”

“Yeah, well,” Ranma huffed. “I didn’t say that. Ryoga found me.”

“Did you finally confess you liked him?” Akane joked. As a friend, she meant.

But Ranma looked shattered, nervously fidgeting with his pigtail as he set the bento down, only half-eaten. “No,” he said softly. “I don’t think so. He just said he might be leaving soon to be with Akari, to really stay with her, and I asked him not to. That I’d miss him too much for him to get lost again. Then he asked if I got hit on the head and walked off.”

“Oh.” Akane was at a loss for words. Hesitantly, she reached out to put a comforting hand on her fiance’s shoulder. “It’s not a bad thing to realize how much you care for your . . . rival.”

“But I feel bad,” Ranma cried. With a jolt, Akane realized there were tears in his eyes. “I should be happy for him, I know, but I feel like someday I’ll lose him for good. Just like with you. I keep remembering it. I can’t forget it. When I held you in my arms and thought you were dead, the only reason I managed to get up was because Ryoga saved me. If he didn’t, you and I would’ve—”

“I’m here.” Akane held his trembling hands. “We’re here.”

“I’m so tired, ‘Kane,” Ranma said again, his voice raw. “You don’t even know.”

Just like the day she awoke from that terrifying haze to Ranma looking down at her, his despair giving into his relief, it started to rain. No matter how many times she saw it happen, Akane still felt the childlike wonder in watching her fiance change forms: black bursting into maraschino-red, chest swelling out, the rest of his body starting to shrink.

She waited for Ranma to gather himself. Once they fixed this, Akane resolved, they needed to talk. She would give anything not to see Ranma cry like that again.

“Damn it.” Ranma glared — a tell-tale sign he was feeling better. The grey-blue always stayed. “I hate this stupid bell.”

“How do you get rid of it?” Akane asked.

“I’m supposed to tell the truth until it’s satisfied,” Ranma grumbled. “The old hag said it’d be obvious enough when it happened, but I don’t know. Hasn’t happened yet.”

“Alright then.” Akane stood, taking the bento box in one hand and pulling up Ranma with the other. “We better go inside. This is gonna take a while. I can draw up a bath for you first, if you want?”

“No, uh, um,” Ranma stammered, going pink, like he wanted to stop himself but couldn’t. “I don’t mind being a girl. I think sometimes I might . . . prefer it?”

Oh. Akane smiled to herself. This was gonna be fun.

If anybody noticed the soft conversation from Akane’s bedroom or the empty space between Genma and Nodoka in the guest room, they didn’t say a word. Akane tried to keep her questions light and simple, but sometimes they couldn’t avoid Ranma’s rambling stories or Akane’s curious incredulity. At some point, Akane managed to cajole her fiance into one of her old pajama sets, and they tumbled sleepily into bed together.

“P-chan hasn’t come by in a while,” Akane said. She turned to face Ranma, who looked seconds away from drooling into her pillows. “Hey, you never told me why you didn’t like P-chan. What problem could you have against a little pig?”

“I don’t not like him,” Ranma murmured. “He just doesn’t like me, ‘s all. I wish he would.”

Ding-dong, ding-dong . . .

Was that what she thought it was? Akane reached for Ranma’s neck, not taking mind of how his breath hitched at her touch, and slowly pulled away the Bell of Inner Reflection. It stopped ringing. Now that it was free, she could see that it was less of a proper cat collar and more of a bell simply tied with a yellow, silky ribbon. The gleaming silver had shifted into an ugly, dull grey.

Akane moved to put it on her desk, already thinking of how to dispose the thing come morning, when she felt a tug on her sleeve.

“Aren’t you going to ask me?” Ranma said softly. “About you? Us?”

He looked afraid.

“Tomorrow,” Akane decided. “If we’re gonna talk, I’d rather hear it from you. Not a magic bell.”

There was a fight, of course, but there was always going to be a fight. The important thing was that this time, they managed to seal it with a kiss. Akane’s move — because she strongly suspected that even with the truth-telling bell, Ranma still wouldn’t have admitted shit.

Maybe it was high time for them to act along to a new script.

—

All of which led to where Akane was now, three weeks later, wrestling a dress off of her boyfriend-girlfriend-fiance. She wished it was as sexy as it sounded. The reality was this:

“You can’t go to meet Ryoga!” Ranma screamed, throwing a tantrum comparable to the spoiled little toddlers they’d pass by on the playground. “You can’t, you can’t, you can’t! That pig-brained idiot is going to take it the completely wrong way, and where would that leave me?”

“I’m meeting one of my friends and Ukyo will be around,” Akane said, exasperated. “We’re already dating, Ranma. I don’t know why you still feel like you need to sabotage things.”

“Because I can,” Ranma said. He squirmed under her, trying to escape, but Akane had gotten much stronger since they started training together — strong enough to completely pin down his girl form, which had been the goal. Right at that moment, Akane was determinedly not looking at how Ranma’s chest was threatening to spill out of his lacy bra. She was starting to understand why boys went crazy over them. These lumps of fat were dangerous, temptuous things when they were on a girl (or, in Akane's case, a boy-girl) you loved.

“And is that the reason you always like to dress up for your disguises? Because you certainly never do that for our dates,” Akane countered.

“I,” Ranma sputtered. “You never even said—”

Akane narrowed her eyes. “Did Ryoga tell you he liked it when you looked pretty?”

“He’s fallen for it enough times—”

“You don’t need him to fall for it again—”

“Maybe I find it funny—”

“Oh, and is the whole world supposed to bow down to what the great Saotome Ranma finds funny?”

“I just don’t think there should be a problem if I—”

“There’s definitely a problem when you’re so insecure that you end up being jealous of your friend—”

“I’m not jealous of Ryoga!”

“So what is it then,” Akane snapped, frustration and horniness clashing deep in her gut. She reached for the unthinkable. “Are you jealous of me?”

Ranma bit his lip.

“No,” he said, which was Ranma-speak for yes.

She stared.

And the puzzle pieces in her brain, scattered memories of the past few months that she always found odd but chose not to think too hard about, came together with a clink.

“Oh my god,” Akane said. “My fiance is in love with Hibiki Ryoga.”

Underneath her, Ranma yelped loudly, turning as pale as a ghost. “Don’t say that in the house!” he hissed. He sat up to grip her shoulders, shaking her. “Our parents might hear you. Killing me yourself would be kinder.”

Akane gaped. “You’re not even denying it.”

“There’s nothing to deny,” Ranma insisted.

“Of course,” Akane said. She was dimly aware that her voice sounded a bit hysterical. “You just so happen to trust him completely, get pissy when I’m around him, respect him enough to declare all your other would-be rivals worthless, and ignore your own feelings so well that you went and found him another girl to make him happy! The only hint more obvious than that was if I found you sharing a bed together! Oh wait!”

“We promised not to talk about the koi rod incident!” Ranma squawked. He took a deep breath, gathering his dress straps from where they fell off his petite shoulders. “’Kane, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“You basically said that losing him would be like losing me,” Akane realized.

Ranma visibly wilted. “If you want to break off the engagement . . .”

It really wasn’t fair that her fiance was so cute. This was the Ranma that Akane had first taken interest in: adorable, shy, and considerate, looking up at her with those big, dewy eyes. Akane took his cheek, kissing him as light as a feather as she switched their positions around, putting Ranma on her lap. “After all we’ve been through? I’m not thinking that. I won’t ever think that.” She held him by the chin, gently guiding him to look at her. “Come on. I’m just floored, Ranma. You have to understand how crazy this sounds.”

Or not so crazy, now that Akane’s mind had some time to settle. This whole thing made far too much sense.

“I don’t really know what I feel for Ryoga, ‘Kane,” Ranma admitted. “I just know I love you.”

That made her heart melt. It even soothed a part of her ego that she didn’t know was bruised. And that, Akane thought, deserved something of a reward. She let her lips brush over Ranma’s bare collarbone, reveling in her fiance’s full-body shiver. “But you still wanted him to see you like this?”

“H-hey—”

“My sweet Ranma wants to show off,” Akane whispered. She hiked up the skirt of Ranma’s dress, feeling the soft skin of his thighs. “For a boy.”

“I thought you’d be mad at me,” Ranma said, a little breathy and desperate.

Akane grinned wickedly. She moved her hand back up and squeezed. “You wanna invite Ryoga over?”

“You’re going to be so late and he’s going to end up so lost,” Ranma warned. But his pupils were dilated and he still wasn’t moving off her, and that was all she needed to know. She dragged him back down for a real kiss, not really caring how far they went or how long she’d make Ryoga and Ukyo wait. She might even bring Ranma along for the hell of it, because she knew Shampoo was going to barge in at some point, and Akane was just itching to stake her claim on Ranma for all of Nerima to see.

In the back of her head, she was already thinking of the letter she was about to write; just a preliminary screening, of course, the lead-up to her proposal. Even if he said no, even if it was just once, she felt like it was worth a try.

Ranma, Ryoga, and her. It didn’t sound too bad. It even sounded like it could work.

But while he wasn’t around, Akane was going to enjoy having Ranma all to herself.

#ranma #ranma 1/2 #rankane #ryoran #ryorankane #mine

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thrythlind · 8 months ago

Text

Tendou Kasumi - Late Start Version

Okay, so, before we begin let's go ahead set some basic information here first.

Who is Tendou Kasumi?

Kasumi is a supporting character from the 80s manga Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi and the anime it is based on. She is a character who exhibits several traits of the yamato nadeshiko trope which represents an idealized Japanese housewife. In the manga, she can be witnessed to have tendency toward biting sarcasm when responding to other characters, but this was mostly lost in the anime where she is the perpetually kind and calm woman who acts as a surrogate mother for her sisters and father.

She is one of the only characters without any hint of martial arts prowess or observable supernatural trait save in just how kind and patient she is.

What is the premise of Ranma 1/2?

Ranma 1/2 is about a teenaged martial artist named Ranma Saotome who has received a curse where they change gender when they get wet. Cold water turns them into a girl and hot water turns them into a boy. Through the machinations of his absolutely terrible father, Ranma has at least two fiancees: the daughter of his father's longtime friend and the friend he had as a child while they were starting their training trip.

Kasumi is the eldest of the friend's daughters and her youngest sister, Akane, is the usual fiancee of the agreement. The middle sister Nabiki has occasionally claimed the role as part of some scheme to her advantage. Ranma has another fiancee due to getting tangled up in the laws of another culture and has a fourth admirer in the form of a mentally ill rich girl. In addition Ranma's girl side is desired by the mentally ill brother of said rich girl. A long time rival of Ranma's has a crush on Akane, and a childhood acquaintance has a crush on the foreign girl pursuing Ranma.

The manga is a satire poking fun at the standard tropes of teenage romances as well as martial arts stories. It blows a lot of these things out of proportion. The anime loses a lot of the satire and mostly focuses on the immediate humor, romance subplots, and fight scenes directly. The success of Ranma is at least one reason for the emergence of the Harem genre where the convoluted romance subplots are done unironically.

What is Late Start?

Late Start is a fanfic I wrote to get myself back into writing a bit after some burnout. It is currently unfinished, but the premise was that instead of coming to the Tendou dojo at age 16, that Ranma instead doesn't learn about the Tendous or the marriage agreements until he's 20. And indeed, Akane and Ranma first meet at a martial arts tournament and hit it off.

The idea was to do the characters without a lot of the teenage confusion. Where they're on more equal footing power-wise, more mature, and have had more time to settle their own issues.

Among other things, each of the Tendou sisters has their own curse. Akane is bound up with a lightning spirit, Nabiki is a vampire, and Kasumi is an oni. While two of those are just made up, Kasumi really did spend some time during the manga and anime possessed by an oni. It operated by trying to draw out and feed on the evil of the people it possessed, and in Kasumi's case that meant doing things that would be considered cruel "pranks" but not nearly to the level of evil one would expect from an oni.

Spoiler for the fanfic necessary to understand the build:

In Late Start, when the oni tried to finally consume her she managed to fight back, but in the process she became an oni. She's convinced her family that she's human and the horns are just a remnant of the possession. However, she is in truth a being of darkness and chaos. Unlike the prior oni, however, compassion is at her core rather than cruelty. This kind of passes since her vampire sister Nabiki is largely just a civilian so not really anybody dangerous.

Kasumi has also joined the Templars (Secret World rather than Assassin's Creed) and secretly investigates and prevents occult disasters while telling her family she goes to a LARP society that copies the MMO "The Secret World" which includes the Templars, Illuminati, and Dragons (I think a made up secret society for the game). So, when Kasumi is not keeping the home, she's basically dressing like this and hunting bad guys. (pictures that follow are a screencap from City of Heroes: Homecoming, a commissioned piece of art by Silky Noire, and a screencap from Secret World Legends, the free-to-play version of the original MMO)

So... I'm going to go ahead and build a version of Late Start Kasumi for Scion as an Origin but give her a quick simulated shift to her visitation and a Hero when she joins the Templars. She's not going to have a Pantheon, instead having a Covenant with the Templars.

The Build

Step One: Concept

Kasumi Tendou is a human woman who turned the tables on a possessing entity that had sought to claim a physical body all of its own. She was willing to share, but the entity only played along with that until it felt strong enough to consume her. Along the way it taught her some conceptual magic. She failed to convince it to share, and she realized she couldn't keep both herself alive and prevent the transformation of her body, so she conceded the change and sneakily focused on being the sole survivor. Leaving her a physically embodied oni with a soul that still possesses primarily human experiences.

She draws sustenance from the friendliness and good will surrounding her as she refuses to take in hate, anger, or fear to sustain herself and risk becoming another evil. Eventually, she comes to the attention of the Templars and joins them. Since then she's been able to receive holy water and blessed rice and draws sustenance from the blessings imparted to the food.

Step Two: Paths

Primary Path: A Creature of Chaos and Compassion Skills: Occult, Subterfuge, Empathy

Secondary Path: Eldest Sister of the Tendou Family Skills: Culture, Integrity, Persuasion

Tertiary Path: Lost Two Battles to win the War Skills: Integrity, Occult, Subterfuge

Step Three: Skills

Based on the Paths and which we assigned as Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Primary skills get 3 dots, Secondary 2, Tertiary 1. Any skill that has 3 or higher gets a specialty. This by RAW is only at character creation, but we've generally played that getting to 3 comes with a free specialty as well, rather than making people pay for it.

Culture 2

Empathy 3 (Toxic Beliefs)

Integrity 3 (Kindness)

Occult 4 (Conceptual Magic)

Persuasion 2

Subterfuge 4 (Overlooked)

Step Four: Attributes

Kasumi's Favored approach is going to be Resilience. Primary will be social (6 dots), secondary Mental (3 dots), and tertiary Physical (2 dots). These each get one free dot, and the three Resilience attributes (Resolve, Composure, Stamina) get two free dots as the Favored approach.

Mental

Intellect 2

Cunning 3

Resolve 3

Physical

Might 2

Dexterity 2

Stamina 3

Social

Presence 3

Manipulation 4

Composure 4

Step Five: Calling and Knacks

At Origin she is going to have a single Calling typically if we were building her as a denizen she wouldn't get her Denizen trait and that's it. But we're building her as a scion with a Denizen origin. As for Pantheon... she's going to be a tutelary goddess. IE she's associated with a specific group of people rather than a pantheon. In this case the largely more benevolent version of the Templars that appears in the fanfic.

That said, I want to nod at her being both a denizen and a scion. So I'm giving her a Persistent Condition that causes her trouble. And I'm going to base this a bit on her hunger. She doesn't need food in the same way as humans do, but she still needs to feed.

Persistent Condition: Emotional Hunger: Kasumi must feed on the emotions and spirit of other beings. By preference she only feeds on kindness or other such emotions freely given to avoid taking more negative attitudes into herself. However, if isolated or among hostile beings for long, she may grow hungry and desperate. She can also feed on blessed food (such as holy water, blessed rice, or edible blessings) but it is possible to poison her with cursed food instead, possibly affecting her personality while digesting it. Add Momentum whenever her hunger causes her a problem.

I'm also giving her a second Persistent Condition. As these are a way to produce momentum at the "cost" of drama (oh no, something interesting happens), a second Persistent Condition is something you can only get with GM approval, but this is a theoretical, so let's go with it.

Persistent Condition: Oni Horns: Kasumi has oni horns. She can't hide them. They're always there. They're pointy. When they cause her trouble, add Momentum.

So, now, her Calling. Given the fact that she perceives the world as bundles of concepts and interacts solely on that level. Like she doesn't see with her eyes so much as she is aware of the concept of light and darkness or people walking through it. That feels very much like Sage. So that's what she's starting with. For her Knack, she's getting "Master of the World" to represent the already discussed perceptions.

Step Six: Finishing Touches

This is the end of the Origin character creation. So we do some figured characteristics.

Defense: relates to whichever Resilience attribute she is using to defend with and will thus be either 3 (Stamina or Resolve) or 4 (Composure)

Health: She has the basic Bruised, Injured, Maimed, and Taken Out health statuses. Due to having 3 Stamina, she has a second Bruised status.

And she gains the following:

Five Extra Skill dice: 1 to Empathy, 1 to Integrity, 1 to Culture, 1 to Persuasion, 1 to Athletics

One Extra Attribute die: to Presence

Either two more knacks or four points of Birthrights.

As she cannot use more than a single knack at the moment, but also I can't think of a particular birthright she has from the start. The prequel story I did of her implicated that she had to rebuild her place with her neighbors due to the horns, so the Cult feels like something that came later. Covenant feels like a Legend 1+ thing. Joining the Templars came later at her visitation. So, I'm giving her two more Sage knacks: Presence of Magic and Scent the Divine (available to all Scions) as further representations of how she perceives the world.

Tendou Kasumi - Possession Survivor

Primary Path: A Creature of Chaos and Compassion Skills: Occult, Subterfuge, Empathy

Secondary Path: Eldest Sister of the Tendou Family Skills: Culture, Integrity, Persuasion

Tertiary Path: Lost Two Battles to win the War Skills: Integrity, Occult, Subterfuge

Athletics 1

Culture 3 (Suburbs)

Empathy 4 (Toxic Concepts)

Integrity 4 (Kindness)

Occult 4 (Conceptual Magic)

Persuasion 3 (Gentle Nudge)

Subterfuge 4 (Overlooked)

Mental

Intellect 2

Cunning 3

Resolve 3

Physical

Might 2

Dexterity 2

Stamina 3

Social

Presence 4

Manipulation 4

Composure 4

Calling: Sage 1

General Knacks: Scent of the Divine

Sage Knacks: Master of the World, Presence of Magic

Now, on to Hero

Her visitation comes when she visits a Shinto shrine that is a front for the Templars and receives the invitation to join them. Her route toward that event did involve her instinctively closing a rift that something terrible was trying to slip in through, but mostly it was a social adventure. She spent a while making sure everyone in her neighborhood trusted her despite the clear oni horns on her head and working to break down some of the harmful traditions and concepts that had calcified around people in the area.

I'm going to say this was five sessions worth of game play and say she achieved:

Three short term deeds

One long term deed

One story milestone

Spent half or more the momentum pool five times

But no group experience rewards since it implies she didn't share her true nature with anybody and so I'm saying she did this solo.

Still that's 16 xp before reaching her visitation.

For the sake of humor, I'm going to say the Band deed was helping Nerima to become a healthier community and the Long-term deed was "face another supernatural creature". So she achieved her Band-term before the Long-term... which is a bit funny since Band-terms usually take longer.

Spending that Experience I'm doing the following:

Cult Birthright - 2 dots (10 experience)

Specialty - Empathy: Desires (3 experience)

Specialty - Integrity: Temptation (3 experience)

For the Cult Birthright I'm building it as follows:

Nerima Ward: Community

Light 2, Shadow: 1

Path Skills: Athletics, Culture, Occult (Nerima's a weird place y'all)

Tag: Temple (letting her get access easier to places around the neighborhood)

Responsibilities: Converse with residents and help their mental health.

Light Access Connection: Community center

Light Contact Connection: Shopkeepers

Shadow Contact Connection: The women of Nerima

Visitation

She gains the following from her visitation:

Two additional Callings and 4 Calling dots.

Additional Knacks up to 5 total. Plus any you gained from Finishing Touches. (So 7 total in this case)

Seven dots of birthrights

An Innate Purview

Assign Boons

Legend 1

Calling Keywords

Legendary Title

For her two additional Callings and Calling dots, I'm going with:

Liminal 1

Psychopomp 2

Sage 2

For the Knacks I'm going with (including Origin knacks):

General Knacks: Aura of Greatness (Empathy), Scent of the Divine

Liminal Knacks: Flatlander (to represent how she can bend the concepts of space time)

Psychopomp Knacks: Tending the Egg, This isn't Everything You Are (for how she recognizes where people have harmful preconceptions and tries to help them break past those.)

Sage Knacks: Presence of Magic, Master of the World

For the Seven Dots of Birthrights

Covenant 2 - Templars, Physical Representation: Hakuba Shrine, Enhancement two when dealing with Templars. Access to Covenant boons. Motif: Ancient Occult Knowledge

Relic 3 - Horns (Innate, Chaos and Darkness purviews) Motif: Whispers in to the Soul

Cult 2 - Templars (Conspiracy, Shadow 3, Mystery Society, Coven, Contact: Master Hakuba, Access: Hakuba Shrine)

Note these birthrights come with her first Motifs, these are the ways that Kasumi uses her purviews and magic. So, she can either apply the invocations and incantations taught to her by the Templars... or she can engage in intimate conversation where she encourages the other person to bare their soul.

For the Innate Purview

Passion (Compassion)

For Boons:

Chaos: Loosen Chains - Allows her to Imbue 1 Legend to clear a person's mind or soul from an unnatural corrupting influence. To make it permanent she must interrupt the source of the influence (by defeating the sorcerer, ghost, demon, talisman, etc) A possessing entity is forced out of the victim's body as long as this is sustained. (A variation of the Marvel to clear a Condition where she can imbue instead of spend Legend. Which means I had to make sustaining it necessary)

Passion Boon: Tugging at Heartstrings

Legend becomes one and now I am going to do Calling Keywords and her Legendary Title:

Liminal Keyward: Oni

Sage Keyword: Concept, Soul

Psychopomp: Guide, Kindness

And for her first Legendary Title: The Nerima Oni.

That gives us the following version of Kasumi as a newly recruited Templar agent of extreme potential. Now, the version of Kasumi that is in the fanfic is probably Legend 2 or 3, has learned to use a shotgun, has acquired a Mutation ability similar to a titanspawn, and is generally more powerful. But this would represent the start of her Templar career when she was more support than badass.

Tendou Kasumi - The Nerima Oni

Primary Path: A Creature of Chaos and Compassion Skills: Occult, Subterfuge, Empathy

Secondary Path: Eldest Sister of the Tendou Family Skills: Culture, Integrity, Persuasion

Tertiary Path: Lost Two Battles to win the War Skills: Integrity, Occult, Subterfuge

Legend 1

Title: The Nerima Oni

Keywords:

Liminal: Oni

Psychopomp: Guide, Kindness

Sage: Concept, Soul

Skills

Athletics 1

Culture 3 (Suburbs)

Empathy 4 (Toxic Concepts, Desires)

Integrity 4 (Kindness, Temptation)

Occult 4 (Conceptual Magic)

Persuasion 3 (Gentle Nudge)

Subterfuge 4 (Overlooked)

Attributes

Mental

Intellect 2

Cunning 3

Resolve 3

Physical

Might 2

Dexterity 2

Stamina 3

Social

Presence 4

Manipulation 4

Composure 4

Callings

Liminal 1

Psychopomp 2

Sage 2

Knacks

General Knacks: Aura of Greatness, Scent of the Divine

Liminal Knacks: Flatlander

Psychopomp Knacks: Tending the Egg, This isn't everything you are

Sage Knacks: Master of the World, Presence of Magic

Purviews

Covenant (Birthright)

Passion (Compasison) - Innate

Chaos (Horns Birthright)

Darkness (Horns Birthright)

Boons

Chaos Boons: Loosen Chains

Passion Boons: Tugging the Heart Strings

Birthrights

Nerima Ward - Cult 2

Foundation: Community

Tags: Temple

Light 2, Shadow 1

Light Contact Connection: Shopkeepers

Light Access Connection: Community Center

Shadow Contact Connection: The Women of Nerima

Templars - Covenant 2

Physical Representation of Oath: Hakuba Shrine

Enhancement +2 dealing with Templars

Access to Covenant Purview

Motif: Ancient Occult Knowledge

Templars - Cult 2

Foundation: Conspiracy

Tags: Mystery Society, Coven

Shadow 3

Shadow Access Connection: Hakuba Shrine

Shadow Contact Connection: Master Hakuba

Oni Horns - Relic 3

Part of her body

Motif: Whispers to the Soul

Chaos Purview

Darkness Purview

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