Authors: Sam and Merrianna

Story: Sibling Rivalry: 3 of ?

Series: n/a

Characters Intro'd: Shampoo, Lin-Lin, Ran-Ran, Principal Kuno

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

Waiting in line to present their birth certificates, Akane frowned and glanced around. Nabiki was next to her chatting amiably with one of her friends, who'd shown up for support. Kasumi wouldn't be able to come root them on until later, as she was tending to the boarders and renters.

The youngest Tendo sister should have been glad things seemed to be going so smoothly, despite almost being unable to enter due to finding out about the competition so late. They had barely made the cut-off date, in fact. But the competition wasn't what bothered her. It was Ranma. How in the world had he become two people... again? He'd rushed out so quickly this morning she hadn't even gotten to glance at him twice. Annoyance welled up inside Akane at the fact that her fiance hadn't even considered discussing his plans, not that he ever did. Whatever crazy stunt he'd pulled to separate his male and female halves had been totally unnecessary, and Akane found herself nastily hoping he would suffer for it.

Repressing that thought, feeling suddenly guilty, Akane glanced around again, trying to catch sight of either Ranma. He was doing this for the Tendo family, after all, so why should she get so angry with him? And it wasn't like he'd be able to compete, any way. Even if he had made the cut-off date, he still had to present identification for both his halves... something he wouldn't be able to do without help from someone like Nabiki. And her sister had assured her that Ranma hadn't come to her for faked papers or anything.

Sudden whispering alerted Akane to the presence of someone either important or at least interesting. She turned at Nabiki's snicker. Seeing red, the younger sister had to be held back by the elder, preventing her from storming over to Ukyo and dragging her off Ranma's arm. Clenching her fists, eyes narrowed and teeth tightly clamped, she merely contented herself with glaring at the pair of them. How dare he flaunt himself that way!

The whispering increased, though Akane barely registered it. She was so intent on trying to mentally pulverize Ukyo that she had to be prodded to move forward in line. It was Shampoo's loud voice that drew her attention from one of Ranma's fiances to another.

"What Spatula Girl do with Airen? Is Shampoo fiance!" With a glare, the purple-haired Amazon warrior took a step back, preparing for a flying leap at one of her rivals.

Ukyo brandished her over-sized fighting spatula, her glare equally ominous. "You just go ahead and try it, Sugar. Ranma asked *me* to be with him today."

Akane whirled to face the front of the line, ignoring the happenings nearby. "Fine... not that I care, anyway." Her voice was low with anger and hurt.

Lifting an eyebrow, Nabiki shrugged one shoulder and studied her nails nonchalantly. Her voice was equally unfeeling. "Muttering to oneself is a sign of great emotional upheaval, little sister."

What Akane missed, but Nabiki relished in seeing, was male Ranma suddenly stepping between the two combatants. He lifted his hands, looking a bit nervous, as he softly claimed, "Wait, please, it's not like that." As his voice was low, the girls had to strain to hear. He kept his mouth closed as much as he was able, and his brown eyes were nervous and pained.

The crowd hushed. Then, as if on a wave, the audible level heightened once more. Shocked whispers could be heard all around, speculation and rumors flew. During that very brief moment of calm, female Ranma had appeared, to step up next to Ukyo and male Ranma.

"Heya, Shampoo. Hey, Ucchan, glad ya made it..."

She was interrupted by an incredulous Shampoo. "How Airen do this?"

"Huh?" Ranko looked over at the Chinese girl. "Do what?"

Shampoo walked over as Akane turned in sudden interest. There was Ukyo, still brandishing her spatula, standing behind Ranma, who looked incredibly self-conscious. Shampoo had stopped right in front of Ranko, who stood looking slightly confused, but more intrigued. The crowd, mostly Furinken students waiting around to see the contestants, was buzzing about the two Ranmas side by side.

"Do this?" Shampoo gestured to the male and female, giving Ukyo a contemptuous glare.

"Huh?" Ranko turned to puzzle over the sight of Ranma and Ukyo. Finally, with a laugh, she shrugged and called out, "I ain't done nothin', Shampoo. We're gonna enter the fight and win." Her laughter was a bit too bright, though, indicating she was trying to distract questioners. "Hey, ain't those your sisters, Shampoo?" She desperately gestured to a pair of twin girls standing and watching with barely veiled interest.

It was, however, enough to draw the attention of her interrogator away. Shampoo turned, purple hair swishing around her hips, and smiled deviously. "Is so. Linlinranran," she ran the names together until they sounded like one blurred name, "win fighting, yes? Beat stupid Spatula Girl."

Ukyo laughed rudely. "Hate to break it to you, Sugar, but I'm not entered. I don't have a sibling. Don't you have to check in, Ranma-Honey?" She turned to the teen whose arm she still held tightly.

"Ranma no fight." Shampoo frowned, looking back from Ranko to Ranma again. "How is possible?"

"Uh..." Ranko looked at Ranma then shrugged and grinned widely, putting on a false bravado once more. "Well, we're twins ain't we?" With that, she latched onto Ranma's arm and tugged him from Ukyo's grasp, pulling him, unresisting, towards the sign-in area. Ukyo frowned but hurried to follow missing Shampoo's narrow-eyed gaze behind them.

Coming up beside Akane and Nabiki, Ranko let out a whoosh of air, giving the Tendo sisters a weak smile. The smile slipped as she noted Akane's glare. "What'd I do now?" It was said with an almost resigned tone.

"How did you split..." Akane's eyes widened. She titled her head, something tugging at the back of her mind. Something was odd about Ranma... but she couldn't place it... yet.

Ranko literally gulped at Akane's calculating look and tugged her counterpart further up the queue, ignoring the fact that she had been last in line and was cutting. People didn't argue, however, letting the Saotome pair go through, curiosity evident in the whispers shooting back and forth. Taking advantage, Akane tugged Nabiki right after them, not letting the pair from her sight.

A judge looked up and blinked in surprise at the sight of a tall, muscular dark-haired male and a very petite, if well-developed, red-haired female. "Uh... yes?" He couldn't figure out for the life of him why this mismatched couple was standing in front of him... especially as the male looked uncomfortable and the female was smiling fit to burst.

"Yeah, the Saotome twins." A gasp was heard, followed by increased whispering, which Ranko ignored. "We're here to confirm reservation in the competition." She was doing an admirable job of controlling her normally bad diction.

"Twins? Uh... you don't look... uh..." the judge was elbowed by a woman next to him and he coughed, taking his eyes from the redhead's ample bosom. "Well... you need proof... uh... Birth Certificates for both of you? Or maybe adoption papers or... uh..."

Akane was intrigued to find out just how Ranma would weasel through this one. She was, therefore, quite shocked when the petite redhead pulled out two files and brandished them like a set of trophies. What's he up to now?

"Gotcha." Ranko handed over the two files and grinned wider, relief in her vivid blue eyes. "My parents are separated, see, so I can't get those other papers. But how about school records?"

"School records?" The low tone was Nabiki. "That's something I hadn't thought of."

Akane frowned and turned to her older sister. "What do you mean? How can Ranma's school record get both of them into the competition? He's registered as Ranma, not Ranko."

Nabiki nodded, but something about her smile irked her younger sister.

The judge looked up and frowned. "It says you're both Ranma Saotome. What is this? No parent names both children the same..."

Ranko laughed and leaned forward, using what feminine wiles she had managed to learn, which weren't much. "Well, Pop's a bit dim. He registered Ranma at Furinken but forgot to register me. Then, when he did register me, he stupidly used Ranma's name. But, if you look, it's got me listed as a girl and Ranma as a boy."

A voice interrupted the proceedings, laughing loudly. "Me afraid is true. The *wahini* speak correct, yeah? Me wrote them files meself, yeah? Furinken has two kakei's name Ranma Saotome, one wahini and one wakini." The principal grinned foolishly at the judge, but gestured towards Ranma. "And de kakei making me proud, yeah? He done cut his pigtail off."

The crowd hushed in awe as the Saotome twins froze. Ranko flushed bright red, bright enough to clash with her hair, inadvertently reaching up to touch her own braided pigtail. But it was true; Ranma had his hair short in the back, though the front was the same as it always had been.

"Ranma cut his hair?" Akane couldn't believe it either. It certainly would account for why she thought something was odd about him. But... somehow that didn't feel right. There was something else, something she couldn't place yet...

The principal's delight at Ranma's change in hairstyle could account for why he supported Ranko's story about there being two Saotome children. The judge, unfamiliar with Jusenkyo, or the curses it wrought in the lives of Furinken students, accepted the headmaster's words. He nodded and smiled in relief, writing something on a registration form with the header "Saotome". Looking up, tearing his eyes once more from that healthy teenaged bosom, the man nodded. "Right. Saotome Ranko and Soatome Ranma. Good to go." With that, he handed them a pair of numbers and waved them towards the warm-up area.

Nabiki had to push Akane to the judge's table, smirking at just how clever Ranma had been. She'd greatly underestimated that boy. Sneaking to the school to get both of his files, knowing the principal would keep a file for each of his genders, and actually cutting his hair to get Principal Kuno to support him, were all things Nabiki would have thought beyond the boy... especially the bit about his hair. He had, until then, been very adamant about keeping it long.

"Yes?" The female judge smiled at the Tendo sisters and held out her hand. Nabiki handed over their birth certificates and watched as the judge stamped their form and handed Akane their pair of numbers. Then, the siblings hurried over to the warm-up area, looking for a certain red-haired girl.

They found the pair arguing in very low voices, an argument quickly hushed up when Ranma noticed them approaching. Ranko spun around and smiled, fighting the annoyance she'd been feeling at her counterpart. "Well, first hurdle crossed, huh?" She gestured with her head towards the judge's table.

Akane nodded and frowned, thinking she preferred Ranma with longer hair. She flushed at the thought, berating herself soundly. It's not as if it matters to me if he cuts off that stupid pigtail. But, somehow, it did; Ranma seemed more like... well... Ranma... when he had long hair.

A woman was hurrying around handing out files to each pair. She smiled at the Tendos, and the Saotomes, then hurried on in her chore. Ranko glanced over the file and made to hand it to Ranma when something made her eyes widen and she double-checked it. "What the!? They changed the line-up!"

"Did they?" Akane frowned and peeked over Nabiki's shoulder at the list, going instantly pale as she saw that the competition events had indeed been changed from the originally posted ones. "Swimming? What in the world made them add swimming?" It was a low groan.

Ranko shrugged. "Guess they figured it helps ta be toned. Hey... they added cookin', too. Looks like ya lost already 'Kane." Ranko instantly regretted her words at the flare of pain in her fiance's eyes.

"Swi... swi... swimming?" Ranma had gone extremely pale, his voice choking up, making him sound less like himself. He turned huge brown eyes on his female half.

Brown eyes? When did Ranma get brown eyes? Akane momentarily forgot her troubles with swimming and cooking to try to capture that fleeting image. It was more pressing, but still beyond her grasp. However, short hair and brown eyes definitely sounded un-Ranma like.

Nabiki smirked at the discomfort of the group and shrugged, opening her mouth to say something. She didn't get the chance as a hair-raising cackle sounded over the entire gathering. The insane laughter was followed by the appearance of the Kuno twins, Kodachi tripping over lightly in her rose-embroidered black leotard, Kuno walking sedately behind her in his habitual hakama. Sister and brother stopped before the other two couples, one lightly grasping a pair of numbers, the other determinedly clutching a competition file.

"Heya, Kuno-baby." Nabiki turned her smirk towards her classmate.

Tatewaki Kuno nodded, barely looking at the girl. "Nabiki Tendo." Instead, he seemed more intent on the other three competitors. "I see you did not back out, Saotome. And you have indeed brought the fair pigtailed-goddess with you." His words were familiar, but something about his attitude was changed. He, in fact, sounded disinterested... for some unfathomable reason unwilling to throw himself at the feet of one of the two girls he adored. His greeting to Akane was a bit warmer, though nothing like his usual groping lust. "Akane Tendo, I see you are as fair as ever."

Both Ranko and Ranma flushed at Kuno's remarks, but neither had time to do anything remotely humiliating in response. Kodachi had centered her sights on the Saotomes and was laughing as she skipped over to Ranma, trying to grab his arm. Ranma, for his part, was studiously avoiding her, going so far as to move to the other side of his female half and turn an annoyed glare on the Kuno girl.

"Ranma, darling..."

Again, the group was interrupted, as this time the Amazons rushed over. Shampoo had accompanied her sisters to the warm-up area and was glaring daggers at Kodachi. Ukyo hurried up to them as well, having managed to slip past the judges. And, as always seemed to happen around Ranma or Akane, chaos ensued. Female voices, arguing and threatening each other, rang out over the entire practice field of Furinken High School.

Ranma made no move to defend himself. He instead grabbed Ranko's wrist and tugged her away from the cacophony, observed by only Akane and Nabiki. The sisters disentangled themselves, as well, to follow the Saotomes to a more private area. It was quite intriguing to note that only a few steps around the edge of the gymnasium Ranko pulled sharply to a halt, hissing, "Stop, you'll get us lost, dolt."

Ranma turned to Ranko, horror in his eyes. "You said nothing about swimming, Ranma." His voice was a low, menacing growl only too familiar to the Tendo siblings.

"Ranma Saotome, how dare you!"

The pair jumped guiltily as Akane stormed over to poke an imperious finger into Ranko's breastbone. Nabiki followed at a more leisurely pace, looking smug about something. Ranko turned wide, innocent blue eyes up to her fiance as Ranma looked anywhere but at the irate Akane.

"Using poor Ryoga like this." She had figured it out. It wasn't Ranma at all; it was Ryoga dressed to look like him. Akane ignored the fact, temporarily, that dressed up in the familiar Chinese clothes, Ryoga Hibiki had an uncanny resemblance to Ranma Saotome. Instead, she decided to vent her annoyance on her true target. "I don't know how you convinced him to cheat and lie for you, but you have to withdrawal. You can't force Ryoga to do something like this."

Ryoga, for he was indeed that poor soul, flushed at Akane's defense of him. He'd always known he loved the youngest Tendo girl, and this just fueled his love all the more. It was wonderful to hear her actually yelling at her own fiance to defend his, Ryoga's, honor. Wisely, however, the boy didn't give away that she was correct in her assumptions. It was too important nobody else figure out what Ranma and Ryoga were up to.

Ranko, or Ranma if one wanted to get technical, lifted her hands and grinned sheepishly. "Hey, quiet down, will ya? It ain't so bad, really. Ranma," and she stressed the word in case anyone overheard them talking, "wanted ta help out with the Dojo, too, since ya always helped him out and let him stay an' stuff. So, I figured the Sibling Rivalry would be a great way ta help out. See, we win, we split it in half."

The dark-haired girl shook her head, eyes still narrowed but manner calming slightly. "How'd you come up with that one, Ran... ko." She begrudgingly allowed the stupid nickname, as this explanation was a bit sounder than she'd expected from such a baka like Ranma.

Here Ryoga finally jumped into the explanation. "Ranma needed a sibling to compete... and so did I." His words were soft, apologetic even, but they had the effect of calming Akane the rest of the way. The habitually lost-boy basked in the warmth of Akane's radiant smile.

"Well... that does make sense." She crossed her arms, smile fading as she turned once more to Ranma. "Okay, so we've got your problem figured out for now, but I want something in return for playing along."

"Way to go, Sis!" Nabiki was proud of the sudden mercenary turn to Akane's thoughts.

Akane merely shook her head and blocked out Nabiki's praise. Instead she jabbed the competition file Ranma held. "Swimming. How am I going to do that one, Ranma? It's my home and my Dojo, so I should have a fair chance at winning, too..." and here her voice dropped to a miserable wail, tears wanting to brim up in her lovely brown eyes, "but I can't swim!"

Ryoga's heart went out to the girl and he hesitated, wanting to reach out and comfort her, but knowing he didn't have that right. He turned his miserable brown eyes to her, though, willing her to know how he sympathized, how he cared. He nearly missed Ranma's words in his emotional upheaval.

"Yeah, Ranma can't go swimmin', either." Ranma frowned, unaware of the sudden glare from her partner in crime. "Let me think a bit..." Flipping through the itinerary and rules, she dug one foot absently in the soft earth, back and forth. Finally, a smile so beauteous lit her features one would be hard pressed to recall that it was a boy in a cursed form standing there. "Hey, it's a relay!"

Akane leaned over and frowned, ignoring the smile with difficulty, suppressing the desire to see the male Ranma use such a sweet look. "What? Relay?"

Nabiki snickered. "Yeah, well, you didn't let me explain, did you, Sis? It's a relay today. First sibling swims; second one runs. They have to hand off a baton."

The redhead nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Says here the swimmer goes an' gets the baton from some raft. He brings it back an' passes it ta the runner, who runs it ta the judge's table. No problem then." And the petite girl looked up, still grinning, but less dazzling than before. "So, Nabiki and I are swimmers, and Akane and *Ranma* are runners. No problem."

Relief washed over the black-haired girl and she couldn't help but smile at her annoying fiance. Ranma blinked wide blue eyes up at her, feeling suddenly out-of-her league once more... a feeling Ranma often got when dealing with the softer side of Akane Tendo. "I can run... I do that all the time. And Nabiki is always swimming." She turned happily to her sister, who merely shrugged.

"And the cooking?"

Akane frowned at Nabiki's words, turning sourly to Ranma, waiting for the usual nasty comments. They didn't come; instead, the girl calling herself Ranko was shrugging indifferently. Ryoga... no, Ranma, Akane had to remind herself, was looking away, not getting involved.

Flipping to the next day's schedule, Ranma shrugged again. "Says here it's another relay thing. One sibling cooks, the other performs the tea ceremony. Guess if it's two boys, one gets ta pretend ta be a girl for the tea ceremony... same with two girls... one pretends ta be a boy." She looked up at Akane and the inevitable insult poured forth involuntarily. "But I wouldn't worry 'bout it. Only the judge has ta eat it."

Storming away, Akane muttered darkly under her breath. Nabiki chuckled as she followed. For his part, the male Saotome competitor was backed up against the building looking ready to run at the next sign of danger, his wide brown eyes glued to the sight of the bruised and battered redhead at his feet.