(Previously:  Yes, it's another alternate history fic.  In this 
one, the Jyuusenkyo springs apparently alter minds as well as bodies.  
(on a regular basis, that is.)  Thus Ranma Saotome's female half is an 
amnesiac who has taken to calling herself Ranko.  Things don't seem to 
have changed too much yet, though, as Ranma and Akane have been engaged 
by their parents, and they've sent off to school together.  There were a 
couple of delays due to cold water, and Ranko is starting to get really 
tired of missing time...)

			TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
			by Scott K. Jamison
			(Takahashi disclaimer)
			Chapter Two

	On again, underwater.  I stroked for the surface, and was about 
to break it, when I was grabbed from behind.  Whoever it was sqeezed my 
breast really hard, so much it actually hurt!  While I'm not normally 
violent, a girl's allowed to defend herself against that sort of thing, 
so I elbowed the creep off of me.
	Turned out I was in the school swimming pool.  You'd think Ranma 
would learn to avoid that kind of thing if he didn't like blacking out.  
The pervert was a tall guy in kendo gear minus the armor, floating face 
down.  Fortunately, he rolled over and breathed, so I didn't have to try 
and haul him out. 
	I walked back into the school, looking for Akane.  She met me 
near the door.
	"I guess Ranma just wasn't fated to be in school today." she 
admitted with a slightly exasperated look.
	"I'll take notes for him." I promised.
	The teacher was curious as to why I was now sitting at Ranma's 
desk, but seemed reasonably satisfied with Akane's explanation that I was 
Ranma's sister and would fill in for him until he got back from where 
he'd had to go. 
	It was nearly the end of the period when the door slammed open 
and the pervert from the pool walked in, bokken in hand. 
	"Where is the treacherous coward Ranma Saotome?"
	The teacher replied, "The bell has not rung, Mister Kunou.  There 
are still three minutes left in this class."
	"My mission is of great import, and I will not brook delay.  I 
ask again, where is the coward?"
	Akane was about to speak, but I beat her to it.  "Ranma is *not* 
a coward."
	"And what would you know of such matters, fair flower?"  Pompous 
as all get out, but a real smooth talker. 
	"I'm Ranko Saotome, Ranma's sister." 
	"What is this?  Such a beautiful maiden related to that defiler 
of women?  But if he be not coward, then whence has he gone?  For he has 
twice vanished when I, Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue Thunder of Furikan High, 
rising star of--"
	Boy sure loved to hear himself talk, so I interrupted.
	"He had to leave on urgent affairs.  But we're very close.  So 
close that what you do to him, you do to me."  I lowered my collar so he 
could see the bruise on my neck.
	"Say it is not so, pig-tailed girl!  Like unto the Corsican 
brothers, harm to him is harm to you?"  He was handsome when he looked 
concerned.
	"Exactly."
	"But yet I must still satisfy my honor!" 
	"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get another chance to fight Ranma.  
Just keep the consequences in mind."
	He left, trying to find a way out of the dilemma. 
	The bell rang, and Akane came over.
	"I'm very impressed that you stood up for Ranma that way."
	"Yes, well, I don't know much about Ranma yet, but I couldn't let 
him be called a coward when it was on account of me he vanished." 
	The rest of the school day went pretty smoothly.  Akane 
introduced me to some of the other girls; the boys introduced 
themselves.  One named Hiroshi was especially persistent.  I flirted with 
them a bit, but Akane rather unsubtly kept things from getting too 
serious. 
	As I was leaving, one of the teachers told me it would be better 
if I wore a uniform like the other girls.  I promised I would if my 
father let me.  Of course that would probably be when apples grow on ivy 
trees.  
	Akane took me straight home, so I could see the whole route.  
	Kasumi intercepted us at the door, so we avoided the living room, 
where our fathers were playing shogi.  Upstairs, Kasumi showed us what 
she'd done to my room.  There was a sign on the door now, a yin/yang 
symbol that read "Ranma & Ranko".  Akane thought it was appropriate.  The 
duck nameplate on her door was apparently due to an old family joke.  
	Inside, Kasumi had labeled three shelves "Ranma", "Ranko" and 
"Both."  The closet was divided the same way.  My shelf had a small 
makeup kit on it, Ranma's a shaving kit.
	"I don't think Ranma shaves yet, but I didn't want to play 
favorites." The "Both" shelf had some generic toiletries.  Since we were 
the same person, we might as well share our toothbrush. 
	She'd also fixed up a pair of bright yellow pajamas to be 
adjustable.  "this way, you'll have something to sleep in, whichever way 
you are.  Later, we'll go shopping and get you some personal things." 
	I thanked Kasumi for all the nice things.  She went to finish 
supper, and I looked at the makeup case.  I just had to try it out!  
Lipstick and mascara and eyeshadow and rouge and some stuff I wasn't too 
clear on, but tried anyway.
	I found Akane and Nabiki studying in Nabiki's room.  I've noticed 
that Nabiki is always eating.  Not a lot at a time, but constant 
snacking.  When she saw me, she spat out her potato chips and started 
laughing at me.  Akane tried hard to stifle her giggles, but she was 
amused too.
	"What?"  I asked.  "Don't these shades go together?"
	"Ha-ha-have you ever put on makeup before, Ranko?" asked Nabiki, 
trying to return to her usual straight face. 
	"Well...no, but since I'm a girl, I should be able to, right?"
	She steered me to a mirror.  I looked awful, like a half-painted 
clown!  
	"It takes practice to put makeup on properly," explained Akane, 
"and since you seem to have Ranma's general knowledge, I'll bet he's 
never put on makeup either." 
	She showed me how to remove makeup, something else I hadn't 
known, and she and Nabiki helped me do it right.  
	"The trick," said Nabiki, "is to use just enough to enhance your 
face, rather than call attention to itself."
	We were called down to supper.  As soon as Father saw me, he 
exploded. 
	"Ranma!  Why are you wearing makeup?  That's for girls!  I didn't 
raise you to be a sissy."
	"I'm Ranko, Father, Ranko!  I *am* a girl.  Don't you want your 
daughter to look pretty?"
	He threw his miso soup on me.  Blackout time again. 
	I woke up to Dr. Tofu's smiling face, and only a little wet this 
time.  I also wasn't wearing a shirt, so I quickly crossed my arms to 
cover myself. 
	"Good afternoon, Ranko.  You've been brought in for a physical.  
Is this your first time?"
	I nodded.  Everything was a first time for me. 
	"I realize you might be a little nervous, so I'll have Akane come 
in to keep you company, okay?" 
	"Okay."  I would've preferred Kasumi, but I learned later that 
would have been a bad idea.  I was soon very grateful for Akane being 
there though, because parts of the exam were very embarrassing.  While he 
poked and prodded, the doctor asked about my life so far, and gave me a 
quick anatomy lesson.  He gave me a pamphlet to read later on female 
biology, just in case I needed more information.
	Eventually, he told me I could put back on my clothes, and 
stepped out.  I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?" 
	"Let's see," said Akane, "you were up last at supper, right?  
Uncle Saotome yelled at Ranma for wearing makeup, Ranma was embarrassed 
to find out he really *was* wearing makeup, but refused to wipe it off 
before he got a chance to eat.  Ranma has quite an appetite.  He and your 
father were snatching food back and forth from each other like starving dogs!
	"Then Ranma got mad at me for putting makeup on him.  That 
would've been another fight, but Nabiki managed to convince him he'd have 
been worse off with that first mess on his face.
	"Today Ranma actually made it all the way through school without 
getting wet.  He and Kunou finally had their matchup.  Ranma won, but I 
wonder if Junou wasn't holding back just a bit because of what you told 
him." 
	"Could be.  He seemed to have some sense of honor, though groping 
me in the pool wasn't very nice."
	"He thought you were Ranma.  It's an easy mistake."
	"There is no Ranko!" came an angry voice from the next room.  My 
father.   We moved closer to the door to eavesdrop.
	"Mr. Saotome, please calm yourself." came the measured tones of 
Dr. Tofu.  "I'll explain agian in layman's terms.  When the curse is 
active, all of Ranma's personal information--the memories that make him 
uniquely Ranma--is blacked out.  It's kind of a magical amnesia.  The 
resulting person was a blank slate, like a newborn child who somehow had 
a junior high education.  Since the female body is the only one she 
knows, it's natural to her, and she's built her identity around it.  Thus 
her choosing the name Ranko."
	"This is a disaster!  My son cursed with the mind of a woman!  
Isn't there anything you can do?"
	"I've looked at the literature, and there's no known cure for the 
effects of Jyuusenkyo.  And some of the attempted cures...let's just say 
the results make your current situation look like paradise."  
	"There must be someone who can help!"
	"*You* can help, Mr. Saotome.  You can help by accepting that you 
have, for all intents and purposes, two children now, a son and a 
daughter, who happen to share the same physical space.  *Both* your 
children need your love and support now.  And their mother should be 
notified." 
	"NO!  I mean, Mrs. Saotome is unavailable at present.  I'll have 
to handle this myself."
	"Unavailable?"  What did that mean?  If he'd meant dead, he would 
have said so, right?  At least now I knew I had a mother, even if she was 
out of the country or something.  
	Their voices got low, then we heard Dr. Tofu coming back.  Akane 
and I rushed back to the examining table, but he could tell we'd been 
listening.  He just smiled.
	"I'm happy to say that aside from your...condition...both you and 
Ranma are amazingly healthy specimens.  Barring any surprises in the 
blood tests, you both get a clean bill of health.  However--" he started 
scribbling on a note pad, "I'll send a note to your school excusing you 
from taking showers or swimming, since those activities could cause some 
embarrassment." 
	"Thank you, Doctor."  It would be really embarrassing to wake up 
in the boys' shower at that.  Possibly even dangerous. 
	Akane and I made our farewells, Akane dragging it out just a 
bit, and went into the waiting room.  My father was there, holding a 
kettle.  I was beginning to have a dread of those things. 
	"I need to talk to Ranma."
	"No."  I snatched the kettle away, careful not to spill it.  "You 
can talk to me."
	He struggled to contain his anger.
	"Please."  I could see how painful uttering that word was to 
him.  "I *need* to talk to my son."  He sounded sincere. 
	"All right, but only after you talk to me." 
	His shoulders slumped, and he pressed his hands into fists 
several times.
	"Akane, could you leave us?"  She left, but reluctantly.  
	"This is difficult to say...I dedicated my life to teaching Ranma 
the martial arts.  I saw a promise in him, that he could become one of the 
greats, a man among men.  He was doing so well, I knew he would be manly, 
thanks to my instruction.  But now...it's all gone sour."
	"That was all you wanted Ranma to be?  A manly martial artist?  
You didn't have room for anything else?"
	"It would have been enough.  All other needful things would have 
followed.   Look, I don't know how to talk to a daughter.  I never had 
one, never expected one--"
	"Never *wanted* one?"  I'd hit another nerve than I'd expected; I 
saw it in his eyes, a look of guilt.
	"There was once--but no, the past is gone.  It seems I have a 
daughter now, like it or not.  Welcome to the family...Ranko."
	"Thank you for your welcome."  It was a start, anyway. 
	"May I talk to Ranma now?"  I nodded and poured the water.
	I was at the side of the school, in Ranma's outfit, sopping wet.  
I heard a voice from above, "You should be more careful where you dump 
things!  Suppose someone had been outside?" 
	It was approximately lunchtime (my stomach was growling.)  Around 
the corner came Kunou, again in kendo garb. 
	"Ranma Saotome, base jackanapes!  Show yourself that I might give 
you the thrashing you deserve!"  He screeched to a halt when he saw me. 
	"Od's bodkins!  'Tis the pig-tailed girl!  How fare you, Ranko 
Saotome?" 
	"I'm fine, Upperclassman Kunou."
	"Hast seen thy brother?  He has once again eluded my grasp." 
	"He had to leave again.  I'm sure you'll be seeing him."
	Kunou turned as if to leave, but spun back.
	"It has struck me, as a bolt from the blue, that while your 
impertinent brother enshackles the lovely Akane Tendou in an unwanted 
engagement, I know nothing of your own arrangements.  Are you engaged 
also?" 
	"Um, actually I'm not seeing anyone right now."
	"Splendid!  Then will I grace you with my presence on a date!  
Would Saturday night be acceptable, my lily of the valley?"  Fast worker 
a little too fast.  Sure he was handsome, but the way Akane talked about 
him made him seem awfully possessive.  And he wanted to thrash my other 
half, which wasn't good for my health. 
	"I barely know you, Upperclassman.  And I don't know if my father 
will allow me to date yet."  True enough, and I suspected my father would 
choke at the very thought. 
	"I see.  Very well, I shall delay my suit until you have 
consulted with your father.  Fare well until we do meet again."  This 
time he left for real.
	Unfortunately, lunch period was over, so I had to attend all the 
afternoon classes hungry.

	To Be Continued...

SKJAM!
"Only the lonely, know the ache I feel inside..."