Ranma Ichibunnoni
Episode Six
"Chinese Water Torture."
* * *
A new day dawned in Nerima. It was a day that promised
happiness and joy, peace and quiet.
But then, when you have a lifespan of just one day, what's a
promise, more or less?
"Futago-kun? You forgot your lunch!" called Ranko as she
shoved his lunch box into Ranma's hands.
"I know that, Sis!" said Ranma as he tossed it over his
shoulder into a nearby garbage can. "Akane made it!"
"AKANE MADE IT??" shrieked Ranko. "AIIIEEEK!" Her own lunch
box went flying into the air, landing in the same garbage can (1).
"Well, you don't have to sound *that* surprised..." complained
Akane. "It was the least I could do to apologize...hey! Where'd
your lunches go?"
Ranma looked at her innocently. Ranko just looked nervous.
Akane looked back suspiciously. The three teens were running to
school, late--as usual, Akane grumbled under her breath. Akane and
Ranko had both apologized to Ranma numerous times for the day
before.
"More than enough," grumbled Akane. "And I even made his
lunch as an apology! And he still won't accept it!" Ranma glanced
at his sister, then at Akane.
"Er, Akane..." said Ranko.
"...that's not why..." continued Ranma.
"...we won't eat it!" exclaimed both at once. "Your cooking
*stinks*!!" they said. Akane turned pink.
The three were made another two minutes late as she assaulted
them with her extradimensional mallet.
(1) Ranma's talents are wasted in martial arts. He should go into
professional basketball and make millions.
* * *
Standing in the hallway carrying a pail of water may not seem
like such an arduous task at first. After all, any of us can lift
a bucket of water, right?
But imagine carrying a bucket of water for five minutes. One
in each hand. It gets heavier, and heavier, and you can't let it
rest even for a second.
This has been five minutes of Japanese high school punishment.
Imagine a whole hour (1).
Akane, Ranma and Ranko had reached the point where they didn't
need to imagine. They knew. "Well...think of it as extra
training..." Ranma tried, somewhat sheepishly.
Akane just glared at him. "You know it's *your* fault we're
late every day," she accused him.
"Hey, what happened to apologizing? I still haven't forgiven
you for beating me up when you saw those pictures, you know. Man,
that Kuno is a real pervert."
"I called us even when you insulted my cooking."
"Yeah, but then you attacked me anyway."
"Nyah," said Akane, sticking her tongue out.
"Oh yeah?" asked Ranma. "Nyaaaah!" He stuck his tongue out
right back. The two tried to outdo each other in making faces.
Then Ranko's voice cut between the two of them. "My, my. I
never knew this was how fiancees acted when they're alone. *I've*
been doing it all wrong." She grinned as she leaned against the
wall. Both Akane and Ranma blushed and hurriedly pretended they
hadn't been doing anything, which was pointless as Ranko had been
standing there the entire time. She had been keeping to herself so
much that the two had forgotten about her. She wasn't about to let
them live this down so easily, however.
"No, no. Don't let me stop you two lovebirds. You know,
Ranma, you *must* be in love with her. You forgot I was there
completely--your own twin!" Ranma blushed. Ranko grinned
impishly. "And you, Akane. Acting like a little kid. You think
maybe Ranma has a lolita complex? (2)" Akane blushed. "Or maybe
you're doing it because--"
Akane reacted to this verbal assault the way she did to
anything else; her instincts stepped in and she launched her own
preemptive strike (3).
"That's *right*, Ranko, you *have* been pretty silent, haven't
you? I wonder what you're hiding. Could it be that explanation
you promised me and still haven't given?" Akane's voice was sugar-
sweet but her words made Ranko cringe.
Ranko sighed and looked at the ground. "I guess you're right,
Akane. Maybe you do deserve to hear the whole story."
Akane snorted. "Maybe?"
Ranko's head whipped back up, her eyes glaring daggers into
Akane. "Don't push it, Akane," she hissed. Much to Ranko's
disappointment, Akane didn't flinch or back off. She stood there
and waited patiently, unnerving both twins (4).
Ranko sighed again. "All right. You remember how we told you
how Pop fell into Shonmaoniichuan...and how he nearly sent Ranma
into Nyanniichuan (5)?"
"I remember you saying *most* of that, yes," replied Akane.
"But that's a new name. Nyanniichuan? You never called it
anything before. What's it mean?"
"It's the pool I fell into," sighed Ranko. "It was Ranma's
turn to fight pop...I'd done it the night before and was still
aching. So when pop turned into a panda, I was down on the
sidelines, listening to the guide tell me all about it. More to
the point, he told me all about the springs while Ranma and pop
were fighting--just not in time to do any good." She took a deep
breath.
"When Ranma fell, I didn't think about that--or anything
except saving him. I just saw my brother about to be changed into
some horrible *thing* and I jumped, catching him and throwing him
aside." She smiled bitterly as she remembered. "I didn't think
about the consequences. I fell in; didn't have the time or
momentum to save myself, and Ranma wasn't able to, obviously." She
sighed.
"So what does Nyanniichuan mean?" repeated Akane patiently.
"I suppose, if I had a chance to do it all over again, I still
would," Ranko said. "Ranma and I share a special bond. And I like
to think it's been strengthened by this, not weakened."
Ranma gave her a smile and squeezed her hand, and she squeezed
back gratefully.
"Umm, right," said Akane. "So what was the spring, anyway?"
"Thanks, bro," said Ranko, responding to Ranma's silent show
of support. "It means a lot to me...I know you'd have done it for
me if you were in my place. And if you had taken the fall for me,
I'd be there as long as you needed me."
Akane nearly yelled at her. "So what the heck is
Nyanniichuan?!?"
Ranko blinked. "Nyanniichuan is the 'spring-of-drowned-girl'.
Why?"
Akane looked at her incredulously. "THAT'S IT?!?" she
exclaimed incredulously. "You put me through fifteen different
sorts of punishment for this precious secret, and that's IT?!?"
Ranko punched her in the gut. Akane doubled over. "It's not
nice to yell in the halls, young lady," Ranko said in a dark voice.
"And it's not nice to interrupt someone. The American Ainu have a
saying. 'Before you can understand a man, you must first walk a
mile in his moccasins'. Well, Akane, walk a mile in mine, before
you choose to yell at me. If you can hear me out and you still
want to rant and rave, be my guest. But this isn't easy on me. I
think Pop is taking to his life as an escaped zoo attraction better
than I am to my own curse."
Suddenly, she seemed to deflate. She put a hand on Akane's
shoulder in silent remorse. "I'm sorry, Akane."
Akane shook her head. "No...I needed that. To calm down."
She frowned. "I guess. Although a slap in the face would have
been just as good, and a lot less painful."
Ranko grinned. "Not my style."
Akane couldn't help but grin back. "Demon-girl. Go on with
your story."
"1500 years ago, a young Chinese girl drowned there. Now,
whoever falls in the spring takes the body of a young girl."
Akane opened her mouth. "But you've *already* got...oh."
Ranko nodded bitterly. "Yeah. I'm already a young girl. So
I got the personality instead."
Akane looked startled. "Is...is that possible?" she asked.
Ranko looked amused.
"My dad turns into a panda, and you wonder if I can have a
personality change?" Akane blushed. "Nah, don't worry about it.
Took me a while to adjust to it. Took me a while to figure it out,
too."
Ranko started thinking out loud. "See, it wasn't supposed to
do that. The guide was amazed I didn't come out in another girl's
body, or have nothing happen at all. So I asked about the other
springs. They've got all sorts in there. Spring of drowned duck,
drowned pig, you name it, they've got it."
"Duck?" asked Akane incredulously. "How can a *duck* drown?"
Ranma grinned. "Hey, you think *that* one's bad--how about
spring of drowned haddock?"
Ranko had to smile. "And there is one, too. That's the weird
part. Anyway... they also had some *really* weird stuff, too.
Like spring of drowned virtuous man. What the heck does that mean?
Or spring of drowned twins. Makes you wonder, don't it? So I
asked about 'em. The guide said that whoever fell in them had a
psychological split--became virtuous, or hentai, or whatever that
spring was for--or actually turned into two people, in the case of
the twins spring." She leaned back. (6)
"Now, I'm thinking...I could've gotten the yin, the female
part of the soul, from this spring. Spring of virtuous man, spring
of woman, makes sense in a warped, twist-your-life-completely-
until-you-can-hardly-recognize-it sort of way. But noooo. Trust
me. I threw out that idea completely with yesterday's garbage. I
mean, I just couldn't take the idea of the female half of the soul
being a complete airhead. I figure, it's probably the personality
of the original girl--the one who drowned there fifteen hundred
years ago. So what if this 'virtuous man' junk is just that--junk?
Maybe the people who've fallen in since take the personality of
that virtuous man because *they were all men*! And maybe the twins
water splits you in two because you're not twins!" (7)
Ranma butted into the conversation. "For that matter, Pop
seems to enjoy eating bamboo now...and if anything he's gotten
lazier than ever since the change. Maybe he got affected by it
too...kinda hard to say, with a panda. If he got turned into a
girl or something, maybe it'd be easier to tell."
"So who drowned in that pool anyway?" asked Akane. "Sailor
Moon?"
Ranko winced. "It's not THAT bad, is it?"
Akane considered. "Well...maybe not THAT bad. I'm not sure
anybody in real life could be--this isn't an anime, after all. But
it's not good." She shook her head. "I still can't believe this."
"You think that's amazing," grinned Ranko, "Then think about
the possibilities. In twenty years, I won't qualify for 'young
girl' any more. If I still have the curse, will that make a
difference? What if I were to fall in as an old woman? I've only
had the curse for a few months--but what if I'm not aging? Maybe
I'm doomed to be a 'young girl' forever, 'cause every time I change
into 'young girl' mode, I go to one preset age? What about kids?
Can I still have any? Would they all be female? And the Chinese
died young 1500 years ago, you know. Am I gonna die of old age at
thirty? For that matter, I'm still human. But Pop's a panda.
Does he age in panda years or human years? If he eats a full
stomach in human form, is that full in panda, too? If--"
"Enough! Enough!" cried Akane. "I get the picture." She
breathed in. "So what're the answers?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Ranko quietly.
"Huh?" asked Akane intelligently.
"Why do you think I'm so damn depressed!?" demanded Ranko. "I
don't *know* what's going to happen to me!"
"You never do, in life," responded Akane gravely. "Besides,
you should be thankful you're not a panda. Or--or a haddock.
Wouldn't *that* be horrible?" Ranko stared at Akane. Akane stared
back, unflinching.
"Maybe," Ranko finally admitted. "But I'd still be me, on the
inside. When I'm like this--in my cursed form--I don't have
control. I still have memories, and my abilities, but the
personality, the emotions, the *soul*--they're all screwed up. In
a way, SHE'S"--her voice left no doubt as to whom she meant--"the
opposite of me, of who I *want* to be."
Finally, Ranko broke the staring contest and looked down.
"NOW do you see why I hate it?" she begged. "Can't you understand,
Akane?" Tears were beginning to come down her cheeks. "Knowing I
can never trust myself around cold water? Having a fiance I want
to be faithful to, but can't be? Never being able to go swimming,
or have a cold drink without being afraid? Always having to have
someone else there in case I mess up? I can't be normal any more,
Akane..."
Akane smiled. "Maybe not, Ranko. But now you have one more
person to catch you if you slip."
Ranko looked up at her, startled. Then she sobbed. "Akane?
D'you really mean that? After all I've said and done?" Akane just
smiled and held out her arms. Ranko dropped her buckets and rushed
into her arms.
Unfortunately, when she did so the buckets fell from her
grasp, hit the floor, overturned halfway, and splashed all three
teens with the resulting deluge of cold water.
"Oh, Akane," giggled Ranko. "It's so good to have friends.
Hey, wanna skip class an' go to the mall? Bet we can pick up some
cute guys! Maybe even that dreamy Kuno! Isn't he such a *hunk*?"
Akane glared at Ranma, who was still holding his buckets a
little sheepishly. "Now I see what she means."
(1) No relation or slight intended to Club Med. By the way,
another handy way of thinking of this is lifting weights. Sure,
you can probably press a hundred pounds. But can you keep it in
the air for five minutes? Maybe, but you probably won't enjoy it.
A pail of water isn't a hundred pounds, but it sure feels that way
after fifteen minutes.
(2) If you don't know what this is, I'm not going to tell you.
(3) Although this strategy did come in useful in some areas, it
also came across as somewhat aggressive in other situations,
especially after Akane nearly hospitalized two girls in a game of
blackjack.
(4) Which was the idea. Akane had practised very hard to achieve
just such an effect, and was gratified with the results.
(5) Nyanniichuan = 'spring of drowned girl'. It sounds much like
Nanniichuan, which is 'spring of drowned man' and the spring Ranma
seeks in the series, so be careful not to get them mixed up.
(6) Believe it or not, all of the springs mentioned--except spring
of drowned haddock--are real. There *is* a spring of drowned
octopus, though. I'm still trying to figure *that* one out.
(7) For a better (and longer) exploration of this topic, see the
Author's Note at the end of this episode. No footnote could
possibly do it justice.
* * *
Akane poured hot water on Ranko. Ranko felt the heat go
through her like a physical wave and she shivered, despite the
warmth.
"Ugh," she said. "If I have to go through that *once* more
today, I'm gonna--"
Akane put a hand on her arm, and she shut up, surprised. "I'd
watch what you say," Akane advised. "Statements of that sort made
around here tend to come true." Ranko cocked her head, then
grinned at her.
The two walked out the door. Ranma was waiting outside. He
had several new bruises. "What happened to *you*?" asked Ranko.
"We just left you out here for a second!"
Ranma looked up irritably. "Yeah, right outside the girl's
change room," he said. "Sixth period gym class came back and
thought I was peeping. Couldn't you find hot water someplace
else?"
Ranko snickered. He glared at her. "Aw, who'd want to peep
on a kawaiikune tomboy like you, anyway?" he demanded of no one in
particular. Akane turned red and was about to dismember him when
she realized something. He hadn't been talking to her. She turned
to Ranko in shocked disbelief. How could he treat his own SISTER
that way?
"Well, only my dear sweet *hentai* brother, of course, with
his incestuous little fantasies," Ranko replied in the sweetest of
voices.
"Oh yeah?" bristled Ranma. "Your thighs are too thick, you're
built like a brick--" He stuck out his tongue at her. "Nyaah!"
She returned the favour. "And you're built like a stick!
You're easy to lick! You'd be my last pick! You can't even kick!
In fact, you make me *sick*!" She stuck out her tongue back at
him. "Nyaaaahhh!"
"Tomboy!" Ranma aimed a punch at her.
"Pervert!" Ranko blocked it and kicked at his lower half.
"Stupid!" Ranma dodged and tripped her. Then he casually
leaned over and poked her in the forehead with one finger as she
tried to get up.
"Jerk!" Ranko got up and glared at him. Then she broke into
a broad smile and hugged him, laughing happily. He hugged back,
grinning. Akane's eyes bugged out. She sat down. This was just
too much for her. She shook her head, trying to knock some sense
into it.
Then she noticed something. She stood up and interrupted the
laughing pair. "Um...I hate to break it to you two," she said,
"but we've got company." The Saotome twins looked up, still locked
in an embrace.
Kuno was towering over them, filled with rage. His face was
darkened, and lightning seemed to crackle nearby. "NEVER!!" he
screamed. "Never will I, Tatewaki Kuno, allow such depravity to go
on!"
Nabiki sauntered in. "What depravity, Kuno-baby?" she asked.
Kuno turned to her.
"Why, that the brother of the wondrous Ranko Saotome is
indulging in incestuous pleasures! With his own sister! Why, when
I think of him and her together, I--"
Nabiki smiled and waved. "You've been training too hard,
Kuno. I don't see anything like that going on here." Kuno
blinked.
"What?" he asked, uncertain for a second. Nabiki smiled and
pointed. Kuno turned around to see Ranko and Ranma sitting
separately, looking innocent. "But...no! I saw it with mine own
eyes!" Thunder boomed in the distance.
Nabiki sighed. "Really, Kuno. He's her brother! It would be
like you and--" her voice dropped to a whisper, "--Kodachi."
Kuno shuddered violently. "I...see..." he managed, his face
taut and pale. "Yes, you are right, Nabiki Tendo. I have been
training too hard. I must take care not to overexert myself, for
I owe it to my many admirers to stay healthy and fit."
Nabiki smiled and nodded. "Good," she said. "Oh, and by the
way, Ranma? Can I have the 500 yen you owe me?"
Ranma looked startled. "What 500 y--" he started. Ranko
elbowed him, hard. "Oh, *that* 500 yen," he stammered. "Of
course!" He got the money out and paid her, grumbling. Nabiki
smiled and left. Kuno stayed. The trio waited.
"Ranma Saotome," began Kuno. "Seeing as how thou art the
brother of the wondrous Ranko Saotome, I needs must gain your
approval to date with her." He bowed his head.
"No," said Ranma.
"Well, good," replied Kuno. "It is fitting that you realize
your lowly station benea--what did you say?"
"No," repeated Ranma. "You don't have my permission."
Kuno stared. "Why not?" he demanded. "What right have you to
separate two lovers? Two kindred souls? Two immortal, passionate-
-oof," he finished as Ranko kicked him.
"WE ARE NOT LOVERS!!" she screamed into his ear.
Kuno turned to her. "Ah, my love, just be patient," he
assured her. "I know, the demure maiden you are, that you cannot
go against your brother's misguided wishes. But rest assured I
will win over your noble sibling, and then we can be reunited. You
need not put on this act for my sake!"
"I'll give you demure maiden, you arrogant bast--" Ranko
began. Akane grabbed her and pulled her back before she could
cause Kuno severe bodily harm, or lower the rating on this fanfic
any more than she already has.
"Hsst!" she hissed to her. "You've got a chance to keep Kuno
away for good! Don't blow it." Ranko looked startled, then
thoughtful as she subsided into silence.
"Well, knave?" demanded Kuno.
"What happened to 'noble'?" complained Ranma. "Ah, screw it.
Listen, Kuno. There's no *way* I can allow you to go out with
Ranko."
Kuno turned purple. "Why not, cur?"
Ranma smiled. "Well, because she's engaged," he said. Kuno
stood still in shock.
"Guess he hadn't heard yet," whispered Ranko to Akane.
Akane rolled her eyes. "Kuno has selective hearing," she
responded.
"Then I will defeat this cur of a fiance!" announced Kuno.
Ranma put a hand to his forehead. "Okay, Kuno," he said.
"But he's not here."
Kuno stared. "Not here? Then where?"
Ranma grinned. "Last time I saw him, it was...lemme
think...Kyoto," Ranma replied.
"KYOTO?" replied Kuno weakly.
Ranma nodded vigorously. "He *can* be taught!" murmured Ranko
under her breath.
"Well, Kuno, guess you're in for a long wait, huh?" commented
Ranma. "Too bad! Oh well, better luck next time!"
Kuno turned red. Ranma skipped half a step backwards, just in
case. Kuno raised his hands above his head and yelled in anger.
"YAAAH!! I WILL NOT HAVE IT!! TRUE LOVE WILL OVERCOME ALL
OBSTACLES!!" Then he ran out, charging with his sword in front of
him.
"Where does *he* think he's going?" wondered Ranko.
Ranma shrugged. "Kyoto, I guess."
* * *
Ryoga panted as he walked. Maybe this was far enough. He'd
been walking so long...
There were schoolboys passing him. He reached out and grabbed
one. Daisuke was absently scanning the clouds for signs of rain
when he was lifted into the air.
"Hey!" he squawked. "What the heck do you think you're--"
then he stopped, mid-sentence. And gulped. He was being held
aloft by a young man. A very muscular young man. A very muscular
young man with *fangs*.
"WHERE IS FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL?" demanded Ryoga.
"Furinkan High School!?" Daisuke asked, incredulously. Ryoga
snarled. Daisuke quickly pointed at the sign, right next to him.
It said 'Furinkan H.S.'
Ryoga looked at it. "Fu-rin-kan?" he read absently. "At
last!" He turned back to Daisuke, whom he was still holding in the
air. "Now tell me where I can find Ranma Saotome!" he shouted.
Daisuke was stuck. He didn't know where Ranma was. But at
the same time, he wasn't sure how well this strange boy would take
to his saying that. He glanced around, hoping for some kind of
clue.
* * *
Akane, Ranma and Ranko were going home together. This was a
first. The three had deliberately avoided most unnecessary contact
between them for a week now, since the twins had arrived. A few
interested Furinkan High students glanced in their direction and
whispered about what this meant.
None of the three were aware of this. In the past, those
speculating on such things around them quickly found themselves on
the receiving end of the trio's anger--individually, or as a group.
As such, the Furinkan students--led by Nabiki--had learned to be
subtle (1).
In fact, Ranko, Akane and Ranma were blissfully unaware of any
danger. It was the first time that they had gotten together as
friends--ever--and they were enjoying it.
There is something though, in the essence of a true martial
artist, that never relaxes, never lets down its defences. Some
people who have not yet learned it call it mystical and give it
names of power to explain away its' mysteries. Zenshin.
Awareness. Sixth Sense. Harakei (2). But it is a simple thing,
more of a sense that had to be learned than an aura or a technique.
Both Ranma and Ranko suddenly felt that portion of themselves
warning them of danger. They leapt out of the way (3).
They were just in time. Ryoga came hurtling down where Ranma
had been standing, his umbrella poised in front of him to strike.
The area around him became a crater in little under a second. The
students in the schoolyard stared, then started to gather around.
"DIE, RANMA!" shouted Ryoga.
(1) Nabiki charged them for lessons, of course.
(2) "Spidey-sense." -David Homerick
(3) Akane was blissfully unaware of anything except that her
friends had just jumped off and left her alone, which made her
rather angry. Under ordinary circumstances, Ranko would not have
sensed an attack made at somebody besides her, but her many years
of training not only with her brother, but as one half of a
fighting team of Ranko and Ranma made her especially aware of such
things.
* * *
Author's Note: This whole section is one big explanation, so
if you're not in the mood for one, go on, skip it. It won't affect
your enjoyment of the story. Just go to the next Episode. Go on.
Shoo.
The theories on Jhusenkyou talked about above are a lot of my
own ideas mixed in with what Takahashi-sama (blessed be her name)
has written already.
There actually is a spring of drowned virtuous man, called
Shannenniichuan. Pansuto Taro brought it back with him when he
tried to get Happosai to change his name. Why, you ask? Well,
'Pansuto' in Chinese means 'Pantyhose'. Happosai gave him that
name (which *he* thought was just great) when he baptized him. In-
-yep, you guessed it--a drowned spring. Specifically,
Niuhoomanmaorenniichuan, 'spring of drowned yeti, riding a bull,
carrying an eel and a crane.' I'm NOT making that up. Takahashi-
sama has a convoluted and very warped mind (I mean that as a
compliment, by the way). Pansuto didn't care about his curse; all
he wanted was a name change. But according to his ancient Chinese
village laws (lots of those around, ain't there) only the person
who gave it to him can change it. I won't tell you any more, since
I don't want to ruin the story for you.
This means that there is such a thing as a 'psychological
spring', one that changes the mind, not the body. This idea has
been expanded on, since we only know 10 springs total out of more
than a hundred, each with its own tragic legend. One fanfic
described a Chinese tribe who made whatever they needed; lacking a
philosopher? Just dunk the new kid into the spring of drowned
philosopher. Need a carpenter? You get the idea. It saved them
the cost of educating their children, anyway, and made it easy to
get wives (just dunk a lizard into the spring of drowned girl).
Speaking of knowing ten, here's the ones we've encountered in
the series so far. Springs of drowned: girl, panda, black pig,
cat, man, wild duckling, bull-crane-eel-yeti, virtuous man, twins,
and giant octopus. Just a friendly fun fact by yours truly.
Another little titbit of information is the constant warnings
given to the Jhusenkyou-cursed people time and again: DON'T MIX
JHUSENKYOU CURSES!! The first time we really see this in action
though is with Pansuto, who falls into *two* pools. The second
pool is called Chanyuiniichuan, spring of drowned giant octopus
(where I got the drowned haddock idea from). Instead of becoming
an octopus, however, his cursed *combined*. He became a giant
winged minotaur with tentacles.
We also see this warning come into play again when Ranma gets
splashed with water from Chuanshontsuniichuan, spring of drowned
twins. He separates--permanently--into girl side and boy side.
But he also separated his personality into yin and yang. Boy side
is polite, but won't fight or even raise his voice; girl side is a
demon who has to be exorcised by Akane (which, of course, gives
Ranma back his curse). Call it professional courtesy by Akane if
you will.
All of which means--there may be no cure. Takahashi-sama has
given the cast all warnings that this may be the case, but they
chose to ignore them (1). Heck, so would I faced with life with a
curse. But the possibility remains that falling into the spring of
drowned man might only make the curse worse.
Imagine a combination pig-man form for P-Chan. Then again,
maybe the form you're in when you fall in makes the difference.
What if Ranma were to fall into Nanniichuan as a guy, and find out
he's still a girl with cold water--and a man--but not himself--with
hot water? He'd have lost his own body completely.
We also don't know what happens if a character falls into a
pool of their own gender. If Shampoo had fallen into Nyanniichuan
(drowned girl) instead of Maoniichuan (drowned cat), would she have
gained a girl form like Ranma-chan? Would the two forms be exactly
the same, or different? We've seen this in action just once, when
Herb fell into Nyanniichuan. He came out looking different from
Ranma-chan. So would that mean a girl falling in Nyanniichuan
would keep her own body? Or just gain another girl-form?
That brought me to the next idea. Why are the 'psychological'
springs any different from the rest? Maybe they aren't. If P-Chan
were to fall in the spring of drowned virtuous man, he'd probably
become a man--albeit a virtuous one, most likely. So maybe the
springs affect you physically, then mentally only if they can't
change your physical form. Perhaps no woman ever fell into the
spring of drowned virtuous man. If she had, she might have taken
on a man's form, rather than his personality.
That, in turn, brought me to one final question; what happens
if a man falls into a pool that matches his body--and his
personality? What if a virtuous man fell into the spring of
virtuous man? Maybe he'd have *his* personality and body replace
that of the one inside the spring; that is, anybody else who falls
in gets the new virtuous man's body and mind. But what if he
doesn't?
Well, then maybe they affect your memories. Once you've
gotten the body, feelings and personality down pat, what else is
there to get? In fact, what else makes a person? In a way, you
could think of it as a way for the spring to reincarnate that
person, sort of a warped version of Darwin's theories on nature
reproducing itself. All those people wandering around with their
curses are just failures at reincarnating the beings who died in
the springs so long ago.
Just a theory, mind you. And not one I'm particularly
attached to (go ahead, flame me. I'll laugh at it). It comes from
a mind that tries to explain away magic every time I come across it
in any shape or form. Mind you, most times I have more to work on
than this, and the results are obviously biased. Sometimes,
though, I can come up with something that just might work.
And...what if?
(1) "Ignore ignore ignore <SPLOOSH> Bwee!" Thank you, Mayu.
Don't worry, this one's an in-joke, so don't worry if you don't get
it.
End of Episode Six
"She said role-playing games were the creation of Satan. Dead
clever of him. I mean, sitting down there in Hell, working out
all the combat tables and everything. I bet he used to really
*swear* every time the dice caught fire..."
-Only You Can Save Mankind, Terry Pratchett