A Ranma/Futaba-kun Change crossover fan fiction

Started - 1 February 2001 Completed – 1 April 2001

Last revised - 10 May 2004 Reason - typos

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all associated characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Futaba is also used without permission. This fan-fiction isn't intended for commercial use but is rather a tribute to the 'Ranma-universe' and Futaba ideas.

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Golden Lining by Cloud Dreamer

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Chapter six - Just Us

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- - - - Tendou home

A scream of anguish was heard; Kasumi and Soun immediately looked at Akane who was looking confused. "Not me . . . Nabiki!" She suddenly realized.

In moments they were crowded around Nabiki's door only to see her hunched over her keyboard sobbing her heart out. "It's gone, it's gone. All that lovely, lovely yen that 'I' worked so hard for is gone."

Akane hesitantly approached her older sister, "Nabiki, is there anything I can do to help?"

Nabiki stood up and grabbed the younger girl by the blouse. "You've got to help me capture Ranma. He's mine. I created his money making potential. I'll even marry him if necessary but he's mine and I won't let him get away!" She broke down again, "especially not with all that lovely yen."

"Our houses will be joined after all, oh thank you Nabiki!" Soun exclaimed deliriously before fainting away from overwhelming emotions.

"Yen?" questioned Kasumi softly.

"Yes," whispered Nabiki, momentarily forgetting that this was something that her father and Kasumi weren't supposed to know. "I've been marketing Ranma in both his forms as a teenage martial arts idol. The law required that I set up a savings account for him for his legal share. I never told him about it but somehow he found out and took all of 'my' yen from it." She sniffed, "that's MY yen and I mean to get it and HIM back in my control." She said this as she struck a pose reminiscent of those Soun and Genma used to declare a new marital plan for Ranma and Akane.

"But . . . if it's Ranma's yen, how can it be yours too?" wondered Kasumi.

"Huh," Nabiki suddenly realized that Kasumi had heard her confession. "Ah, it's just a business matter Kasumi, a misunderstanding between Saotome and myself. I was just surprised and over reacted; I guess I do take after daddy a little bit." She hurriedly prattled, "I'm sure he and I can work it out."

Kasumi nodded dubiously and returned to the kitchen. She thought to herself that maybe Ranma had not exaggerated after all.

As she worked on dinner she smiled to herself, yesterday's birthday party for Ranma had been so much fun. She guiltily looked around and then peeked into her blouse. She smiled to see her engagement ring on her necklace. Tofu had been so cute stuttering the question out before everybody there. He'd nearly frozen the whole house with the 'soul-of-ice' before he'd managed to get it out semi-coherently.

Just as dinner was ready, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," called out Nabiki.

That was convenient since it was for her anyway. "Registered letter for Tendou Nabiki."

Nabiki plopped herself down to look at the letter as she began to absently eat. Everybody's attention focused on her as her bowl and chopsticks clattered to the table. "No," she whispered. "No, Ranma's mine. He can't have a new agent. I'll fight them." She peered at the paper, "Shimeru, that name seems familiar."

"Oh I know who it is," volunteered Kasumi. "That's the name of the agent for Iroka Kahoru and her daughter Shimeru Futaba." She grinned, "I got their autographs."

Nabiki groaned, "I can't fight them." She paused, and then looked over at Kasumi. "You met them? Where?"

Kasumi smiled, laid a finger along side her nose and sweetly said, "That is . . . a secret." She giggled as everybody facefaulted. She avoided Nabiki's attempts to pump her for information by the simple expedient of giving Nabiki a chore every time she stepped into the kitchen to ask a question.

The next morning, Kasumi was gone. On the table was a note telling everybody that she had eloped with Dr. Tofu.

Akane's battle aura threatened to peel the paint from the walls as she fumed about how Kasumi had snuck around behind her back and stolen her man.

There was a letter for Nabiki from Ranma on the table as well.

'Tendou Nabiki,

Congratulations, you have enough resources left to provide for your family . . . probably for as long as they live since it's hardly likely they will provide for themselves, but then that is what family does for family. I could have been family, but truthfully, I think I am richer (snicker) for the loss.

By the way, Shimeru Futaba and I plan on doing a show together soon. The ratings are projected to be pretty high. Just thought I'd let you know.

Ranma, 'rich-young-talented-idol-hunk'

"WAAAAA"

Soun felt of his mouth as Akane watched him, puzzled they both turned to see Nabiki doing a credible imitation of the Tendou Patriarch Waterworks.

Soun shrugged and held up a sign that said '10.0'

Akane's sign was '9.3'

Nabiki frowned at Akane

Akane held out a hand, palm horizontal and waggled it. "Your water quantity was a bit off dad's standards," she explained. She grinned, "Don't worry sis, I'll make breakfast for us."

"WAAAAAA"

"Much better, sis."

- - - - Tofu's clinic

Ranma carefully examined the three syringes. Each contained a modified serum made from blood that the Shimeru family had recently donated just for this purpose. Because it was a serum, there was no longer a blood compatibility problem. Certain preservative agents had been added to each to extend their effectiveness. One was customized. The red one had Futaba serum and the lavender had Shimeru-san serum, but the yellow one had Futana serum augmented with concentrated extract of Nianniichuan or drowned boy spring distilled from a dozen instant packages. Ranma sighed wistfully knowing that the extract wasn't a cure for his curse. He grinned thinking how convenient it was that temporary magic could override the more 'permanent' version, otherwise the instant Jusenkyo wouldn't have worked on cursed people like himself.

He grinned at the doc. But Tofu just held up a hand, "don't thank me, and especially don't tell me what you are going to do with these."

Ranma grabbed his waving hand, shook it and said, "Actually, all I wanted to say was, good luck, and I hope you two have as great a life as I heard your honeymoon was." Ranma paused, looked a bit embarrassed, then spotted a glass of water. Yoiko hugged both the doc and his young bride freely.

- - - - late evening the next day

"Done? Did it go ok Ranma?"

"Yeah, it went really well. Pop's invisibility technique worked great plus Tofu taught me the necessary pressure points to ensure they didn't wake up right away." Ranma grinned as he handed each empty syringe to Futana. He named a name for each; red, "Mousse," lavender "Shampoo," and yellow "Akane."

Futana grinned as she eased herself onto his lap. "That takes care of the fiancée club. Want to see what it's like to only have one fiancée?"

Ranma stroked his chin, "well I dunno, don't have any prospects right now," he teased.

- - - - Cat-Cafe

Shampoo read the note, tears of hate seeping from her eyes.

'Xian Pu, amazon warrior, Greetings:

By now you have discovered that your Jusenkyo curse has been modified so that you can never have another night of passion with your husband in anything except your cursed form. You wanted a stud; well a stud is all you can have unless you fancy tomcats. Oh, wait, that's what you are now instead. Well, have fun. Calm cold clinical mating is what I gift to your girl form. But take heart, it only takes three years to prepare an antidote. Promise me that you, your descendents and all other amazons will never seek revenge and I will start to work on it.

Ironically, Ranma.'

She screamed in fury, "it was the ONLY thing that Kuno was really, really good at too."

Cologne just glared at her, "you actually deserve this in my opinion."

- - - - Tendou dojo

Akane screamed to the heavens in his light bass. "I hate him, I'll, I . . . damn him." He ended in a whisper. He looked again at the note from Ranma.

'Greetings Akane from one pervert to another:

Yeah, I'm the one who cursed you. Seemed only fair considering how many times you've cursed me. You may have noticed that your curse isn't a typical Jusenkyo curse. Cold water OR strong emotions will let you stand up to pee. Welcome to the club. That's the funny news, the good news is that because it's not a true Jusenkyo curse, it has a cure. The bad news is that it takes three years to prepare it. The grim news is that I won't even start preparing it without an apology from you. According to pop, anger is a manly emotion. I'm sure you will grow to appreciate that considering how much time you've spent angry.

Snickering, Ranma.'

Akane sank to his knees whimpering, "Kasumi, Nabiki, someone . . . I'd even be willing to talk to daddy if Nabiki would let me. I feel so alone."

- - - - Ucchan's

In an anguished voice, Ukyou read the letter to her husband who was quacking angrily.

Hello Kuonji Ukyou and Mu Tsu:

Yeah, I'm the one who changed your husband's curse. You both screwed me over, so I thought I'd put a stop to that particular activity at your place for awhile. Both of you hated and cursed me for things that I never did. Mu Tsu, I never wanted Xian Pu. That you could not win her was your fault, not mine. Ukyou, I was a six-year-old child when we first met and I refuse to take the blame for my father's greed. It may please you to know that I modified his Jusenkyo curse similar to how Mu Tsu's was changed. Of course since he had no problems leaving my mom for over ten years I'm not even sure that he really cares. But that was part of my revenge against him for what he did to you. Ukyou, it's time to decide. I offered friendship, you both returned hate. So be it. Either declare your feud with me ended or I will end it, permanently, whatever it takes to defend my family and myself. Rejoice in the child you carry Ukyou, for it will be your only child unless you accept my offer. It takes three years to prepare an antidote for what I did to Mu Tsu, I will not even start preparing it until we are at peace. On the bright side, well, you do get free duck eggs now.

No longer Ranchan.

Ukyou looked at her angrily squawking husband, "please Mousse, get control of yourself. I need some help with the restaurant. If you can't control yourself now, what am I going to do during the later stages of pregnancy, please Mousse."

- - - - Yoiko' apartment

Futana tried to pick herself up off the floor but was unable to do so since she was laughing so hard. In her hands were copies of the letters that Ranma had sent to his three former fiancées. "You know you lied to them don't you." Seeing his answering smirk, she continued, "There is no antidote. The effects will spontaneously wear off between four to five years."

"Yeah," he grinned. "But they don't know that. And all three have already asked to meet with me to do what I demanded. They hated it, but they did it."

- - - - Silver Lining Security Evaluators Corporate Offices

Ranma looked around the room. He noted the active security cameras in each corner of the room and he knew of the witnesses behind each of the one-way mirrors that lined two of the adjacent walls. He looked above him where the high ceiling of the room came to a peak. He could just barely hear music coming from there.

He stood with his mother and the Hibiki attorney as they waited for the first girl to enter. It was Shampoo.

Ranma could feel the waves of cold rolling off her. Cologne had obviously taught her the 'soul-of-ice' technique in order for her to maintain her human form despite the fury that shown in her eyes.

She glared at him. "Shampoo promise." She turned to leave only to hear Ranma call her back.

"That won't do Shampoo. For all I know, you've just promised me that you will hunt me and my family down."

Shampoo turned back, obviously struggling for composure. 'Damn him,' she thought, 'he wasn't supposed to catch that until it was too late.' She hardened herself, then sighed knowing she really couldn't beat Ranma in battle. "Shampoo promise, that if Ranma cure what he do to Shampoo, then Shampoo, Shampoo's family and all other Amazon's no take revenge on Ranma and Ranma family."

Ranma grinned, "good, then all you have to do is return in three years for your cure. I should warn you though, that even after I give you the cure, it may take a year for it to be effective."

"No!" Screeched Shampoo, "want cure now! No want wait extra year either. Is immense humiliation for amazon to be like cow. You do . . . meow, snarl, spitz."

As Shampoo's control slipped and her form changed, Ranma moved before she could get clear of her clothes and attack him.

This was something Ranma had trained for. Yesterday he and his mother had spent the day in this room practicing a specific conditioned response each time he heard that particular sound. He had deliberately positioned himself under the high point of the ceiling, a place he abruptly found himself clinging to as the soothing music playing from the speakers near his face washed out all the sounds below. He kept his eyes closed and waited, shivering.

Nodoka sighed as she watched the lovely tomcat frantically try to reach her son. But he was out of reach for the jumping abilities of Shampoo's now slight form. Nodoka reached inside her clothing, untied a bag and tossed the finely ground dried leaves on the frantic cat.

Shampoo paused, glared at Nodoka and prepared to try to get his claws in Ranma one more time. Then he noticed the scent of the leaves. His mind frantically screamed 'NO' even as euphoria overcame him.

Nodoka waited a few moments while shampoo-neko rolled in the concentrated catnip and purred frantically. Picking the cat up by the scruff of the neck, she distastefully tossed the tomcat into the tub of ice water that had been placed in the far corner of the room.

Sputtering, Shampoo regained his senses even as he shivered. He noted the ice cubes floating beside him in the shallow water. The tomcat jumped out of the water, saw the nearby tub of hot water and jumped into it. As the young Amazon girl hurriedly stood, she realized that there was no waiting towel and that her clothes were on the far side of the room where she had left them. She proudly strode casually to where her clothes were and put them on despite her body and hair still being wet.

Nodoka turned and gave a signal; the music in the ceiling was turned off.

Ranma sighed, opened his eyes and dropped down to face Shampoo again.

She looked at him, regret in her eyes for the first time. "Shampoo say promise, Shampoo keep promise. Goodbye." She then turned and walked out of their life.

Nodoka turned to where the Hibiki attorney was talking on the phone. "I don't care how many damned copies you make for yourself of her taking that walk, just make sure 'I' get a copy. And make sure it's from every camera angle too." He added.

Nodoka just grinned.

They spent a few moments getting themselves prepared for the next encounter. Then Ranma signaled and Akane entered.

Akane glared at Ranma. He was the cause of ALL her problems. As she suddenly changed into a male, a ki charged mallet appeared in his hands, but before he could even start to swing it, he heard a 'snick' immediately followed by a 'swish' and the mallet head fell on top of him.

Akane peered up from the floor beneath the mallet head as Nodoka calmly re-sheathed her katana. He rose to his feet, sighed and visibly struggled to regain control of his emotions with only slight success.

"Ranma," he started, "Ranma, I'm sorry for what I did to you. I was the one who organized the fiancée club after I overheard Ukyou talking about how to get revenge." He took the kettle that Nodoka offered and poured the hot water over himself. Akane's form shimmered a moment as if reluctant to change due to her turbulent emotions but then did change back to her birth form.

She continued, "I was wrong to blame you for what our fathers' did and I now know, believe me, I know you are not a pervert."

She sighed, "I still can't believe how screwed up my life has become since I got cursed."

Seeing Ranma's look of mild curiosity, she explained. "I took a page of your life for my own pattern." She smirked, "Since you called your cursed form 'Tendou Ranko' to hide from your mother, I decided to call my cursed form 'Saotome Kaneda' so I could hide this problem from my father." Her shoulders slumped as she continued, "Nabiki was sure that dad wouldn't be able to take the news of me being cursed so it seemed the best thing to do. Unfortunately dad has now engaged me to myself." She grinned, "On the good side, if there is such a thing, dad has taken over Kaneda's training, and he's working me hard. Apparently Kaneda is the son he always wanted and he's going to be the Tendou heir even if daddy has to beat him half to death in daily training."

She looked at Ranma, tears glimmering. "Ranma, I'm sorry."

Ranma sighed, this had not been nearly as satisfying as he'd envisioned. "Yeah, me too. Apology accepted. Your cure will be ready in about three years, but it will take maybe a year for it to become effective. That ok?"

Akane nodded, bowed deeply and left.

Ukyou entered the room shortly thereafter. She looked around; her eyes slightly widened as she noticed Nodoka and saw the other woman loosen her katana in its sheath. She walked up to Ranma, bowed deeply and said. "I have gained my revenge on your father. You were right, it was wrong of me to hold you responsible for his greed, my father's stupidity and my own lust for revenge." She looked them both in the eyes proudly. "In some ways I regret what I did. But in many others, I do not. I spent ten years hating you; I think I gained some measure of repayment for those ten years by what I did. It wasn't the right thing to do, but it does allow me to let go of the vendetta between our families." She offered her hand, "peace?"

Ranma nodded unhappily. He hated that so many people knew his innermost secrets and thoughts because of this girl's betrayal, but she had been a friend once, and there was no denying that Genma had cruelly betrayed her. He shook her hand, "peace." He then added. "Your cure will be ready in about three years, but it will take maybe a year for it to become effective. That ok with Mousse?"

"He won't like it, but that is what we expected." She paused, "Ranma, why did you curse Mousse if your argument was with me?"

Ranma flushed, then explained, "Well, I was thinking of doing what I did to Akane to you too, but then you . . . and I couldn't," he finished lamely.

"I understand," she nodded. "Despite everything that happened, you stayed honorable and wouldn't risk harming my child."

He nodded, "how's Mousse taking this?"

She grimaced, "not good. Turns out he's a pretty passionate person, feels really strongly about some things. He's really protective of me and angry at you and, well."

She hesitated and Ranma finished. "He's a duck most of the time."

She nodded, then turned and left.

- - - - Futana's room

"Futana, I need to . . . talk." Ranma's voice trailed off as he noticed the tape that she was playing. It was one of the 'Ranma: confessions and conversations' tapes that Ukyou and Nabiki had made and marketed. His eyes strayed to the shelves where he noticed what seemed to be a complete set of the tapes.

Futana sighed and quickly embraced him so that he couldn't flee before she had a chance to explain. "I want to get to know who you are. It's so hard now for you to talk to me about yourself and your feelings. These," as she swept a hand toward the cassettes, "they tell me who you were, and maybe who you still are." She looked up at him, "You're important to me Ranma. This is the most important 'homework' I have."

Ranma sighed, and then he relaxed little. He looked into her serious eyes. Around him, she and 'he' were so different from how everybody else portrayed both Futana's to be. "So got any questions?" he asked haltingly.

- - - - a few months after the wedding of Shimeru Futana & Saotome Ranma

{ Chronicler's note - humm, I'm not sure just when this happened or who wore the dress or which name they took, not important anyway. In fact, toward the end they were both becoming so confused with gender issues that neither was exactly sure who was doing the courting at any one time. But that's another tail . . . snicker}

The two men stood nose to nose. Futana snarled "It's your turn 'Yoiko'."

"It's Ranma, not Yoiko and it's NOT my turn either. It's your turn." retorted Ranma through gritted teeth.

"It's been my turn for the last three weeks straight. You've only done it twice in the past two months since we got married. So it's your turn. AND," she sighed, "even though I really have liked the past couple of weeks, we only have so many packages of instant 'drowned-girl spring' or Nyanniichuan stuff. It's nice that it can temporarily override my family curse. But, we're getting low, so" Futana turned to glare at Ranma, "that means it's your turn."

"Don't wanta. Won't either. Besides" added Ranma, "who said anything about taking turns. Be natural you said. It ain't natural" he sneered.

Futana pulled back as if struck; then shifted back into girl form as her ardor stilled. Ranma noticed the single tear that seeped from one eye. "Sor . . . sorry, I thought you knew and understood. My mistake" she whispered as she started for the door.

"Wait!" yelped Ranma as panic edged his voice. He sprang across the room to physically block the door when she ignored him. Seeing him in front of her, she turned her back to him and hid her face in her hands. She was silent but he could tell she was crying from the way her shoulders shook.

As Ranma reached for her she hissed, "Leave me alone. I'm a freak, not natural. Please, just let me go."

Ranma hesitated then after glancing about him, picked up a vase with flowers, flowers the girl in front of him had bought for him he realized. He poured some of the water over his head and shifted to girl-form. "I'm sorry, yo . . . you're right. It's my turn. I didn't mean what I said." The petite redhead tried to pull the other girl into the bedroom but Futana just shook Ranma's hand off.

"I'm really sorry," whined Ranma. "Please, can . . . can I make it up to you?"

"I'm not in the mood anymore." Futana sighed, "besides, I . . . I feel like I'm forcing you. And I care too much for you to ever do that." Her eyes were filled with a lonely sadness as she continued, "Maybe, maybe we should have remained just friends. I . . . I don't like hurting you and kami knows it isn't a great feeling to be hurt either."

"I'm sorry, it's just that it seems 'unnatural' to me," whispered Ranma.

Futana absently patted the other girl on the shoulder, "I'm sorry too." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, "but the sad fact is that for ME, this is a fact of my life. For me, for my family, my 'tribe,' this is natural." She swallowed nervously, "I'm sorry, I had hoped . . . thought that maybe it could become 'natural' for you too; my mistake, sorry."

Futana tried to edge toward the door, but Ranma intercepted her and pulled her into an embrace. Futana's arms hesitantly enclosed the other girl, confusion evident on her face.

Ranma hugged the other girl closer, "No, you have nothing to be sorry about." She sighed deeply as she melted further into the other girl's embrace. "I was wrong to say that. Please forgive me. It's just that . . . well, you've had eight years to adapt to this. I've only had the eight weeks since we got married. It's hard for me." She turned her face up to the other girl and pulled her into a deep kiss. As soon as she felt Futana change into a guy, she broke the kiss and smiled warmly. "But it's something that I want. I want to be part of your life. But it's hard for . . . me?" Startled she looked downward. She looked questioningly up at Futana. A wide grin split her face as Futana blushed deeply. Chuckling Ranma observed, "Whoa, I guess it's hard for both of us, huh?"

Ranma then reached up and snickered as she ran her fingers through Futana's golden blond locks. "You know, love, I think I finally found the golden lining in my life.

With that she pulled her spouse into the bedroom and gently closed the door.

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It is said that love conquers all; actually it adapts to grow, changes to live and does what it must to survive.

Author's notes:

For those interested in more information on Futaba anime see

- otakuworld.com (slash) fkc/chardesc.htm

Yes, I am aware that the 'legend' I presented is not Futaba-kun Change 'canon', but then Futaba doesn't discover that they are descendants of aliens who crashed on earth 12,000 years ago until the final volume of the series. I merely asserted that somewhere along the line, the Shimeru tribe incorporated a similar gender shifting myth into their own lost history in an effort to explain who they were to themselves and their neighbors.

A side story has been suggested consisting of vignettes of Ryouga's activities as an agent for Silver Lining Security Evaluators. You know, it occurs to me that MIR recently crashed into the ocean, you don't suppose Ryouga accidentally broke anything do you? This anthology could include some of agent Hibiki Yoiko's activities as well, maybe even a few accidental joint activities. I'm not planning on doing it though.

The courtship of Ranma by Futana might be interesting side story also. I could see Ranma forced to continue to hide as Hibiki Yoiko because of his idol status. The show as Ranma with Futaba would have made that worse but it would have effectively seized control over his idol status from any of Nabiki's manipulations. Of course Nabiki wouldn't have just given up. No, I'd expect her to transfer to Futana's college (they are the same age) since she's now a little short on cash, maybe even fall for Futana-kun, or at least seem to. After all HE is a way for her to regain control over Ranma since he is Ranma's agent. I wonder how Ranma-kun would react to discovering that Sabuyama-sensei is gay. Now there is a fitting match for Nabiki, though it would take a kami or an extremely strong love potion for that to happen. She could push for the Saotome-Tendou match also. I doubt that I'll try to write this story though.

Expanding on Akane-Kaneda issue would not even have to be in realm of Futaba xover, though it could be included as a side thread to the 'courtship' idea.

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Author's note: Additional Ranma fan-fiction can be found on my Web Pages.

C & C to cloud (underscore) dreamer2000 (at) yahoo.com

Web-page - www.geocities.com (slash) cloud (underscore) dreamer2000

And - mysite.verizon.net (slash) cloud-dreamer/index.html

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