You know, there's nothing quite like a mountain hike to give you a little bit of perspective. Really give you some time to reflect on a few things that you might not otherwise have the time or opportunity to really get sorted out. Not much else to do when you're on your own but think, and if you're thinking long enough those thoughts are bound to reflect back upon yourself.
Case in point: She was gay. She was so gay. That particular revelation had been a pretty stiff surprise, and even Ranma could have knocked her over right about then. Yep, even with all his strength sealed away he could push her right on over with minimal hassle. Over the last few months she'd just sort of begun to lose interest in guys completely. Never liked boys to begin with, but now she was losing interest in men as well.
Girls, on the other hand... Very pleasing to the eye. She'd never really considered it before, but there was something so alluring about the feminine form. So much softer, more inviting, so much more enticement to appreciate all the little nuances. The differences were quite astounding as well. There were all sorts that were still very attractive. Emphasised their prettiness in different ways, a fact that she'd sort of known intellectually before but now... Now she could truly appreciate it for what it was!
She'd been in denial about it this entire time, of course. She wasn't gay, no, no, she was just hiding in this closet because she was being made to be engaged to a stupid boy that changed sex and in spite herself she sort of liked him. Or her. Yeah. That was a tale by itself, wasn't it? Jusenkyo curse that makes him change to a her and back again. Being attracted to someone like that couldn't possibly have any kind of longer-term effects on sexual identity, could it?
It didn't help that girl-Ranma was Just. Too. Cute! It wasn't even fair, how could anyone stand a chance? And then all these other really pretty girls started showing up. The sultry Shampoo, the tomboyish (as in, actually tomboyish rather than whatever she was) Ukyo, the nutball Kodachi...
The tipping point had been a dream last night where she was the Queen, and they were all maids cleaning her room in skimpy little outfits. It was kind of hard to deny the truth when you had a dream like that and then woke up with your hand down your pyjama bottoms.
What was it her sister had said at the start of the engagement? Something like, "Don't worry if you don't like boys! He's only a boy half the time. That makes it okay, right?" Yeah. Yeah, turns out it did help. Just like she was going to help that part-time boy in getting his strength back. Not because she liked him - which she sort of did half the time - but more because it seemed like the decent thing to do. Even if it was a little bit aggravating that the Saotomes had taken Ukyo along for this training and not her.
Of course, Akane had no way at all to know that her thoughts had been subtly influenced all of that time to drive her in just such a direction. It wasn't too hard, really. It couldn't override her mind completely, but it could still whisper in her ear. A person could only listen to those kinds of voices for so long before they start to give in and accept them as part of their own psyche, and a few months is certainly enough time for that.
"Oof!" Akane gasped. "Is it my imagination, or are my boobs getting bigger again?"
Which was an unrelated point she wanted to dwell on just a touch. Whatever diet she was on, she should definitely keep it up. Find a way to patent it. Because, my goodness, if she could find a way to bottle this then she'd make a mint! Everything about her figure had improved substantially these last months. Her hair had this marvelous gleam, her skin didn't have a single blemish and everything else about her seemed to have undergone a growth spurt. Besides her stomach, which seemed much tighter and healthier than she could remember it ever being.
And that said something considering how comparably skinny she was to other girls her own age! It was as if the muscles had sort of realigned themselves to place greater emphasis on her sex appeal, which was unfortunate because the effect became most noticeable right about the time a certain ancient pervert showed up.
Happosai. Oh yes, if there was any evidence in this world that men could be just as bad as boys, if not worse, then there was Happosai. There were only two differences between him and the boys she used to fight every day at school. First, his age. Second, his martial arts skill. As evidenced by the fact that he was able to hit Ranma with that weakness moxibu-
Now, Akane had heard of the song "It's Raining Men" and never really cared for it. She'd never actually expected to see something like it happen! Much less when it was her own fiance faceplanting into the dirt just a short distance ahead of her.
"Ranma!" she gasped, rushing forward to check up on him.
"... Amazing!" Ranma declared, hopping up to his feet like nothing had happened. "That technique is amazing! If I learn that, I could beat the old perv in no time!"
"Technique? What technique? Ranma! Hey! Don't ignore me! Get back here!"
Aaaand he was gone. Just like that. Akane's eye twitched a little bit. Oh! Here she was being all concerned about him, and he just ignores her like that? She'd teach him, just see if she didn't!
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Ugh! How infuriating! Consider her position for a moment. The boy she loved and who was so obviously a perfect match for her that, really, it was kind of inevitable was being made to live with and be engaged to a girl he didn't really like but was cute enough to turn the heads of even a couple girls at school. Hell, even right now Ukyo had to admit there was something about her that drew the eyes.
It was pretty stiff competition, was her point. Being invited up here to the mountains to help him train to recover his lost strength? Huge points for her. Show him how good a cook she was, how good a martial artist she was. Maybe in the middle of the night slip out of her tent to give him a nice midnight surprise...
"So," Akane said, twiddling her thumbs, "how have you been?"
"Oh, wonderful!" Ukyo replied, and she really hoped the sarcasm didn't come across. "It's been ages since Ranchan and I went camping. The two of us snuggled up close together in a tent, so innocent and carefree..."
"Well, there's not a whole lot of space in this tent," Akane complained. "So you'd better get used to the idea of snuggling up next to me instead."
Akane had her back turned to Ukyo just then, so the chef had absolutely no problem giving her main rival the evil eye. Oh, she could see how it was. The girl's intentions couldn't be more obvious. Coming up here without a change of clothes or camping equipment or anything? A transparent attempt to get close to Ranma. Borrow some of his clothes, bask in his scent and get that much closer to him in the process. No place to sleep? That's fine, just share a tent with Ranma! Devious little...
Yeah, you weren't interested in Ranma at all, were you? Ukyo could see how it was. She took in a deep breath and... And felt kind of dizzy for a moment, thought it quickly passed. Now that they were in kind of a confined space, she was hit by how good Akane smelled. Probably perfume. Ukyo was never really into that stuff even before the whole "cast aside femininity" thing.
With that plan foiled, it seemed as though Akane was trying something else. A different plan of attack, maybe? That comment about snuggling up next to her... Was it an attempt to get under her skin? Get back at her for being invited up while she had to crash the party?
"No big deal," Ukyo said. "I mean, we're both girls. There's nothing weird about us sleeping together, and it's better being here than in the guys' tent or with that old ghoul. Right?"
"If you say so," Akane answered. Weird sort of apprehension to her voice there that really drove Ukyo nuts. The hell was that? And now this chick wasn't even looking her in the eyes! Just staring intently at the ground. Was that supposed to be disrespect? Embarrassment? What was that?! What the hell was even up with this girl today?
"Alright, that's it!" Ukyo said, forcing herself into a rather awkward position so that Akane would pretty much have to look her right in the face. "What's the deal with you today? Ever since you showed up, you've been behaving very - Mmmph!"
Whatever answer Ukyo had been expecting from this line of questioning, it absolutely did not include Akane suddenly darting forward and kissing her right on the mouth. A little taste of tongue that wasn't her own, a small spark of a special something that she would never, ever forget. Her first kiss was with her romantic rival.
"Sorry," Akane said. "I don't have anything to wear tonight. Can I... Borrow something?"
"Uh huh," Ukyo replied, staring very intently at a fixed spot in the air directly ahead of herself. "Whatever you want." Had she imagined that? Why would she imagine something like that out of nowhere?
"Oh, and there's also only the one sleeping bag," Akane continued. "We'll have to share that as well."
- The next morning, Ukyo is a full-blown lesbian convert.
- During the night, Akane isn't intentionally seducing Ukyo, it's all accidental.
- During the night, Akane is deliberately seducing Ukyo.
- Cologne notices something weird is up.
- Something else
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