Ferdinand was overcome by Myne’s regret, shame, and nostalgia. In many other contexts, he would have severed the connection here and now, but he couldn’t help but be pulled along even further. She had had a mother who actually cared about her, and he was positively enthralled by the incredibly novel concept. By the time he thought to give the two of them a rest, she had moved on.

“Oh, and there’s this really old rom-com manga I read awhile back. Never watched the anime adaptation, but it had some interesting transformation concepts.”

Ferdinand’s vision came to a series of pictures, with what he could only assume were text. It scrolled through a series of pages, and eventually, the text on them started making sense. “Ranma’s Secret” stood out to him, and then Myne’s voice cut off and his world went black.

The Jusenkyo guide stared at the spring of drowned girl, which one of his latest clients had been slammed into by his father, now a panda. He sighed, preparing to go into a spiel explaining to the now cursed boy that he would would turn into a girl. A girl swamped in blue robes surfaced from the pond, followed shortly by one in a loose fitting gi that must have been the boy who was kicked there in the first place.

“Um, you’ve fallen in the spring of drowned girl… whomever falls in the spring is cursed to turn into a girl!”

The redhead in the gi opened it to inspect her new assets, and let out a scream. The redhead in the robes scoffed, pulling herself out of the spring, and offering a hand to her companion.

“How utterly shameless…” he heard her mumble under her breath.

“Oh yes, I forgot to mention, hot water turns you back to your original form, and cold water brings back your cursed form.”

Ranma chased after her panda dad, yelling a string of obscenities. Ferdinand moved a finger to his temple. He was suffering from a massive headache, an ailment he was well acquainted with by now. He had been synchronized with Myne for too long, and his mind was now receiving a trickle of memories beyond those they had looked at together.

The stout Jusenkyo guide watched the two crazed martial artists run off, and then turned to Ferdinand. “Not quite sure where you came from, sir. I can get you some hot water if you come back with me; those two idiots are likely to chase each other around for quite some time.”

With no other plan, he followed the guide back to the visitor’s hut, and set about stuffing all the feelings he had absorbed from her into a tight bottle. It was hard, especially since he had to ignore how his body moved in order to do so. In time, hot water was prepared, and he rose to the form he was more familiar with, his light blue hair cascading in all directions over his shoulders and down his back in a thick, well-brushed mess.

The Jusenkyo guide looked up at him curiously. “Huh. If you were already a girl in your original form, falling in the spring of drowned girl shouldn’t have changed you.”

Ferdinand grimaced, though resisted the urge to wipe this man off the face of the Earth. What little of Myne’s memories he had managed to process in such a short time informed him that perhaps this would be frowned upon. He tried to intentionally lower his voice, into a deep baritone. “I know not by what measure you asses me, but I can very much assure you, I am a man.”

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The trio of newly cursed people had assembled at the guide’s shack on the outskirts of Jusenkyo. They had turned Ranma and Ferdinand back and forth a few times now, and Ranma was sporting a miffed expression. “Why’d you have to do all this, huh, old man?”

Genma frowned at his son. “I’m just trying to figure this out, boy. It’s interesting that the two of you look basically identical when cursed, but when not cursed, you couldn’t look any different.”

Ferdinand was, in fact, incredibly pissed off, but one could only really know that by spending an excessive amount of time catching him off guard. He chose to remain silent and watch the father-son pair bicker longer, though.

The guide tapped his chin. “It’s a very strange thing, indeed. Never have I ever seen the curses of Jusenkyo act in such a way. Perhaps it was because you fell in at the same time?”

Ranma intercepted his old man’s hand as it attempted to fling a bucket at the two unwilling test subjects. “Enough. What do we do now?”

“Well, my boy, we should probably search for a cure for a bit before heading back to Japan. It shouldn’t take too long at all.”

Ferdinand’s attention was caught by the name “Japan”. While he hadn’t fully been able to take the time to sort out which of the memories now fighting for attention in his brain were his, and which were Myne’s, he knew in an instant that Japan was where Myne was originally from. If he could get there, he might be able to set up an information network that would lead him to her mother, to express Myne’s last feelings towards her on her … no, wait, these were Myne’s feelings leaking out into him, such feelings were useless. But, given that he could understand Japanese, if he could end up making it there, perhaps he could search for answers. It was worth a try.

“I’m afraid I don’t really have any family to speak of. Could I entreat you to let me accompany you back to Japan?”

Genma turned to Fedinand with a frown. “What use would I have taking you back with me? Can you even fight, girly boy?”

With no highbeast or magical tools, they couldn’t exactly play ditter, but they could have a very nice short spar, even with him just using his schtappe to use spells. “I very much well can. Would you like to test yourself against me?”

The had found a small clearing off to the side of Jusenkyo. Ferdinand had proposed, for both of their safety, to not continue finding new transformation curses, and Genma had agreed. They stood, ten meters apart, with Genma and the Jusenkyo guide standing off to the side to officiate.

When the start was called, Ranma charged at Ferdinand, while he calmly flicked his wrist to summon his schtappe. A schtappe which he could still feel inside him. One that refused to make itself known. He stood there, a noble who could not even do the things he should have been able to do as his birthright, realizing that it was very possible he could die right then and there. He tried to push mana into his legs to enhance them, anything to get out of the way of the incoming punch, but everything he held in his vessel seemed to be frozen. Rannma was coming in aggressively.

If he didn’t move, he was going to get absolutely clobbered. This was not how he wanted to die, and it frustrated him. He felt his body heating up. Oh, so that’s what’s getting everything unfrozen now… How shameful. With an internal grimace, he let the frustration he felt now out, and mixed it with the longing he had intended to bottle up. It was going to boil out of him, at least a little. At least enough to win this fight. It was a dirty trick, but this was a fight he couldn’t afford to lose.

Ranma rushed towards the young boy he closed in, staring like a deer in the headlights. Genma scoffed at his inaction. Yeah, no way he can actually fight. Guess we’re not taking him with us. A real shame, he’s well groomed, I could probably find a fiancée to tie him to, even if he wouldn’t be fully mine. All of a sudden, the boy’s eyes flashed as if a rainbow had formed and refracted within them. Ranma lost all his momentum and his fist lightly brushed into Ferdinand’s nose, as Ranma collapsed in a heap.

Genma bounded over to Ferdinand. “Well, looks like you’re coming back to Japan with us, Ferdie!”

Genma immediately joined Ranma, passed out on the ground.