Ranma woke up, still in his female body, to find Kasumi missing. A quick glance at the alarm clock next to Kasumi's bed showed that he was now too late to help her make breakfast. He only bothered putting on some pants, then made his way downstairs, hoping he'd at least get to set the table or something. And indeed, the table was yet empty.
"Good morning Kasumi," Ranma greeted as he entered the kitchen.
"Good morning airen," Kasumi returned, and giggled as she saw Ranma's head.
"Please don't. Hey, you want me to set the table for ya?"
"If you like, that'd be wonderful."
A few minutes after this last remaining task, the other people living in the Tendou home shuffled in, much like before. Unlike before, it was Ranma who handed Nabiki a mug of fresh, hot coffee -- something both of them recognized as a fairly large risk considering his current form.
"Y'got a little somethin' there, Saotome," Nabiki mumbled between drinks, pointing at Ranma's head. Ranma merely nodded and smiled in a way not entirely unlike how Kasumi smiled.
"Please don't smile like that. It's unsettling when you do that."
Ranma grinned.
"Better, thanks."
Just when Nabiki and the men sat down at the table, Akane came tromping down the stairs, still not entirely down with the new engagement. As she too took her usual spot, which was right next to Ranma still, she noticed what Ranma had on his head and almost immediately went off.
"Ranma, is that Kasumi's... you goddamned pervert!"
"I swear on the old lech's grave," Ranma calmly but solemnly replied, "I haven't laid a finger on this bra, or any other undergarment Kasumi owns, without her explicit permission."
Ranma's choice of words gave pause to Soun and Genma.
"...The master isn't dead yet, is he?" Soun carefully asked in a half-whisper.
"We can only only hope, Tendou," Genma replied. "We can only hope."
"If you haven't touched it, why's it on your head!?" Akane demanded, pointing at the offending undergarment.
"Because I threw it at him last night as a joke," Kasumi revealed, smiling wider than usual.
Akane sputtered.
"Ranma, dear? I think Akane's had enough," Kasumi gently concluded. "You can take it off now."
"Tch. Y'know, I was almost startin' to understand why the old lech likes 'em so much," Ranma half-jokingly stated as he carefully grasped the bra on his head and handed it over to its rightful owner, who gently stuffed it in the pocket of her apron.
"Is that right, Saotome?" Nabiki asked.
"Nah, just kiddin', still wanna kill the ol' dirty bastard."
The men sighed in relief.
"It was remarkably nice and silky to the touch though. Can barely imagine what it must feel like when properly worn."
The men nearly choked on their drinks.
"You're horrible when you're on a roll, Saotome," Nabiki remarked. "You know that, right?"
"I'm just in a good mood and I like to see Pops squirm. Besides, I can totally imagine -- I've worn bras before! Heck, I own two! It's just been a good while since I last used 'em."
"We all like to see your dad squirm, kid. With that mind, if you want a reminder of what a properly worn bra feels like, you could help me make some money."
"You mean a photoshoot of me in lingerie?"
"What did you think?"
"I dunno," Ranma considered, noticing from the corner of his eye that Akane was slowly reaching a boiling point. "I feel like Kasumi oughta agree with it. I mean, I'm her fiance, right?"
Kasumi merely smiled as Nabiki and Ranma faced her. "If Ranma gets a fair share of the profits and has his panties on in every shot, I'm okay with it."
Nabiki faked a shiver at the phrase 'fair share', but nodded her acceptance. "Maybe we'll throw in some beefcake shots for you, big sis?"
"Oh I don't need any of those," Kasumi declined, her usual smile slowly growing a little wider. "After all, I have the real thing."
Akane stormed off to her room, ranting loudly.
Soun coughed in his fist. "My dear Nabiki's business aside, you don't intend to stay like this all day, right son?"
"To be entirely honest," Ranma replied, "I don't feel like I really care one way or the other. I might change if I go practice, but other'n that... guy, girl, I'm still me, right?"
"Girl you is better to cuddle with though," Kasumi tossed in.
"Hey, here's an idea," Soun called out and faced his eldest daughter. "Since Ranma's been helping you out so much lately, why don't you let him train you, like I used to when you were little?"
"Oh my, it's been so long though?"
"As the housewife said to her father," Genma muttered. Ranma glared at him, unimpressed.
"It really doesn't work as well when you change it around like that, Pops."
Nabiki smirked. "That's what she said."
"Despite what I said earlier, I'm still a guy, dammit," Ranma retorted with questionable seriousness.
"Gotta admit, Kas. Gi looks good on ya," Ranma praised as he watched his fiancee stand at attention in the dojo. He was also dressed in a gi, but still in his female form as he felt it might help.
"Thanks. I don't think it's very flattering on me but that's not the point, isn't it?"
"Yup. Now, show me what you already know."
Kasumi nodded and started on a few basic kata. They were slow and more than a little rusty, but still better than Ranma could've hoped for. Even if Mr. Tendou hadn't taught his daughters anything at all since their mom died, Kasumi clearly retained a fair bit of the basics. Her form was rusty, but the very core of Tendou-ryu Anything Goes shone through with every punch, kick, and dodge.
When Kasumi nearly tripped over her own feet, Ranma was behind her in a flash to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Keep your feet in mind, Kas. Y'gotta know where each of your limbs are for a move like that. Here, I'll show ya."
Ranma quickly took position next to Kasumi and demonstrated the same move that Kasumi had tried, playing through the few that preceded it, but noticeably slowed down.
"Right here, this is where it went wrong," he pointed out. Kasumi looked at her fiance's feet and noted their relative positions. "When you got here, you were more like this." Ranma moved his feet around to match how Kasumi had them before. "If you were to try the move now, you'd catch one foot on the other leg and fall over."
"How'd I get in the wrong position then?"
"I figure you must've taken one step too many," Ranma answered. He took an earlier preceding pose again, then two small steps forward, ending in the correct position. "See? But if you take another..."
"I see. Thank you, Ranma. Shall I try again?"
"Surprise me."
It wasn't that surprising at all that the second run through the whole sequence was considerably less rusty than the first, nor that Kasumi successfully managed to execute the move that had tripped her up first. The sequence only slowed down again afterwards, for obvious reasons.
She was, after all else was said and done, a Tendou.
"Excellent," Ranma praised. "Now whaddya say we take a quick break and see if you can land a hit on me."
"Oh my."
"It's a spar, it's allowed. Besides, even with a start this good, I doubt you could hit me."
"What's this about Kasumi hitting you?" a new voice asked. Ranma and Kasumi turned to the door, only to find Ryouga there, pack and umbrella on his back and a small stack of stroopwafels in his hand.
"Nothin', Porkchop. I'm just trainin' her."
"Kasumi practicing the art? Now I've seen everything," Ryouga sarcastically scoffed.
"Only now? Where you even been, man? Haven't seen you around for a month."
"Oh, you know. Around. Just got back from Gouda and boy are my legs tired."
"Oh my. Don't they have a lot of waterways there?" Kasumi asked, knowing better than either boy where Gouda was. "Wouldn't that be a hassle when you...?"
Ryouga nearly dropped his treats. "You know!?"
"Oh, I've known all along. I just figured you'd like to keep it a secret," Kasumi revealed with her usual smile. Then she dropped it into a frown that spoke of warning. "No funny business with my little sister, though."
"Ah, of course not, Ms. Tendou! Wouldn't dream of it, haha!"
With that, he threw the stroopwafels at Ranma and ran.
"Oh my, I haven't been this sweaty in years," Kasumi remarked, pulling on some bits of her gi that firmly clung to her body. In the end, she hadn't managed to land a single hit on her opponent slash teacher, but she really couldn't care less.
"Yeah, it's some workout innit?" Ranma agreed, looking not nearly as winded. "Gotta admit, you got the talent for it, Kas. Just like 'Kane."
Kasumi blushed at the praise, imagined herself crushing cinder blocks in the yard, then recoiled a bit at the smell. "I don't know about you, but I think we should take a bath before anything else," she proclaimed as she stood up.
"You're right, that's probably a good idea... wait, 'we'? Like, together?"
At the other side of the table, Soun slammed down his newspaper and cried in joy.
"Why not? It'll save water and we are engaged, are we not?"
"I guess." Ranma shrugged. "Not gonna say it's okay if we both girls?"
"I thought that was obvious by now," Kasumi said as she walked off to the bathroom, Ranma quickly following behind.
In the laundry room, it took Ranma a moment to register that Kasumi taking her gi off in his presence, and that her underwear would absolutely follow. "Kasumi," he whined softly, gripping his own gi.
"It's just a bath, Ranma," Kasumi said as she put her sweat-soaked gi in the bin. "You'd think a boy in your... unique position wouldn't care as much. What was it you told Akane back then? Nothing you hadn't seen before?"
"Yeah, but you're you," Ranma argued, his back turned to Kasumi as she peeled off her sports bra and he unfastened his belt.
"Even if it's not me, I'm quite sure you'll see plenty naked women. I mean, how often have you barged into the girls locker room now?"
"Oh geez," Ranma considered as he took his gi off. "Does that include the times I was chasin' the old lech?"
"It doesn't matter how often you did, dear. Only that you did it with noble intent," Kasumi revealed, then stepped into the bathroom proper. Ranma, now alone in the room, quickly stripped down as he heard Kasumi wash up and get into the tub.
"Ah, Kas?"
"It's safe, there's nothing to see here~"
Ranma nodded to himself and quickly dashed into the bathroom. True to her word, Kasumi was submerged to her neck and between the steam and suds nothing much was visible. Ranma took a moment to wash up in turn, still trying not to look but much more relaxed about the situation.
The moment Ranma too was in the bathtub, he realized his mistake and sank in down to his nose, his face as red as his hair was no longer.
Kasumi giggled. "You really need to learn to relax, dear."
"Maybe I should," Ranma bubbled.
Making a point to keep his eyes closed, Ranma sat back and tried not to think of the beautiful woman across from him.
"Dad, where's Kasumi?" Akane asked. "I need her opinion."
"I believe she's having a bath after the workout Ranma gave her. Think he's in there with her, in fact."
Akane's eye twitched. "No... good... groping bastard! I'mma kill him!"
"So I told him, 'if you ever wanna see her again you'd really don't wanna do that to me.'"
"Oh my, poor Tatewaki. How'd he take that?"
"Badly of course. That guy has some serious fuckin' issues."
"Issues of Playboy, issues of Beppin, issues of Video Boy..." Kasumi jokingly filled in.
"Are those what I think they are?" Ranma asked with a vague idea what those were.
"Well, that depends. What do you think they are?"
"I'm thinking they're p--"
Right then, a livid Akane stormed into the bathroom and took a fierce swing at Ranma's head. "Die, you pervert!"
In a flash, Ranma stood up in the bathtub in full defense mode and caught Akane's fist in his open palm. "What the actual fuck do you think you're doin', 'Kane!? Can't people have a friendly chat tryin'a ignore how they're both naked anymore?"
Kasumi, for her part, had no chance to ignore how they were indeed both naked as she caught full view of Ranma's wild horse. She blushed deeply and looked away, pretending the showerhead was more interesting to look at, while Ranma bodily removed his ex-fiancee from the premises.
"Right! Where were we?"
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