Happi Days

[Editor's Note: As part of understanding the nature of the Bishoujo Brides of Fuurinkan incident, we believe it is helpful to examine the accounts of those who were there. Fortunately, we have an excellent first-hand account written at the time by one of those affected.]

MONDAY

Grampa says I should write this all down in a journal, so twenty years from now, when my kids doubt my stories, I can haul it out for proof. Of course, even if Grampa had kept a journal himself, I don't think anyone would believe his War stories. I mean, a whole island of--

But enough about him. I'm Sanjuro Tanaka, age 17, junior at Furinkan High. I'm not a grind, but I do okay in class, and I'm pretty gifted at soccer. I want to grow up to be a construction worker like my Dad, though I'm planning to go to college so I can get promoted to supervisor faster.

If I can get through this little crisis.

Today during second period, all the sprinklers in the school went off at once. Harmless prank, right? Wrong. This weird old pervert named Happosai had loaded the pipes with something called "Jusenkyo Water" as a part of his revenge against Ranma Saotome, who's in the freshman class. Long story. I'll just stick in the Nabfile on him later.

What Jusenkyo Water does is change you into something else, in this case, a girl. Normally, it then lets you switch back and forth, but Happosai's somehow made it "on" only, so we're kind of stuck, though we didn't find that out till later. Right then, we just sat around in shock until Nabiki Tendou, who I'd date if I actually had a decent allowance, announced who'd done this to us.

Tatewaki Kunou, the captain of the Kendo team, immediately pronounced a crusade against this "sorcerer", and like sheep, we followed him. If I'd remembered how much pain his "you must defeat Akane Tendou to date her" announcement had caused me, I would have thought twice. I didn't, so I ended up helping chase Happosai around most of the day. We never did catch him.

Around mid-afternoon, I was hot and tired and hungry, and I needed to use the toilet something awful. It was at this point my new condition really percolated through my blind fury. I just stood there in the park for a while, trying to figure out which restroom to use.

When I couldn't stand it anymore, I ran into the men's room, found a stall, and slammed the door behind me. Several very embarrassing minutes later, I was staring at the...thing between my legs. It wasn't as though I hadn't seen one before (never mind where), but it just looked so *wrong* there. Not to mention those unsightly bulges pushing out my shirt. I was about to unbutton and look at those when someone knocked on the stall door.

"Um, excuse me, Miss, but this is a men's room, and I'll have to ask you to leave." When I came out, the park attendant was very careful not to look at me.

The Happosai hunt had moved on by then, so I bought some chips from the vending machine and ate them on the way home.

My parents had seen TV reports on what had happened, so they were relieved to see I was okay (well, other than the obvious), and not suffering from any "mental effects." This was the first I'd heard of those. I'm kind of hoping the old freak was bluffing about those. He *had* to be bluffing about the "no cure" part.

Anyway, since I already have two older sisters and a younger one, Mom didn't feel an urgent need to turn me into a daughter. Dad and Grampa both agreed with me that I should hang on to my masculinity as much as possible. Hey, if Ranma can tough it out, so can I.

Grampa gave me a buzz cut, which normally I wouldn't be too happy about, but it does make me look a little less feminine. He learned barbering skills on the island where his patrol got stranded, along with umpteen other weird skills he keeps revealing. At least he says that's where he learned all this stuff. I'm going to bind my breasts like that Kuonji chick that runs the okonomiyaki joint, and just keep on wearing the same clothes and being the same macho guy I always was. Maybe just a little extra macho, in case.

I called up a couple of my buddies, to see how they were doing. I got off lucky, I guess. Koujiro Kanto's mom has been down on men since his father dumped her for his secretary, so she was right away all for the change. She started calling him "Koko-chan" and dragged him off to some boutique where she and the saleslady played dress-up doll with him. He was practically crying when he told me his mom was throwing out all his old clothes.

Deru had it even worse. His parents belong to one of those fringe religions that believes all mass media is hopelessly corrupted by godless Communists or something, so they hadn't heard anything about what happened. It took him three hours of reciting his life story, several oaths and a call to their guru before they'd even let him in the house. When I talked to him, his folks were waiting for an exorcist to arrive.

Bathing was...an experience. I didn't get much time to freak out about my new body, because Shiiko, she's the baby of the family, marched right on in and insisted on helping me scrub. At least she remembered to call me "brother".

Enough for tonight, I guess. Please, Amaterasu-sama, let this be all a dream when I wake up.

TUESDAY

No such luck.

The most important thing I learned today is that girls can pee standing up. It's tricky, but it can be done.

The buzz cut didn't help much. My hair grew an inch overnight. Mom helped me do the breast bindings, and Grampa taught me a few new obscenities to sprinkle in conversation. Dad slapped me on the shoulder and told me to "take it like a man."

Most of the students were milling around in front of the school, trying to figure out who was who. Most of the girls were fairly easy to identify. They looked mostly like themselves with makeovers. The boys were more varied. Some of them were in girls' uniforms, some in boys' uniforms like me, others in an assortment of clothing. One of the seniors was wearing a sweatsuit three sizes too large for him in a vain attempt to hide his curves.

I found Koujiro looking very uncomfortable in a school dress, and trying to scrub makeup off his face. He had some very uncomplimentary things to say about his mother. They'd had a big fight this morning about redecorating his room, and he was afraid she'd go ahead even though she'd promised not to. "She wants to make everything pink, and toss my F1 posters for some `heroines of the liberation movement' junk."

I offered to store anything he could salvage at my place until we got cured. After all, Ranma always gets the better of that Happosai creep in the end.

Then a girl in a frilly pink frock with really deep cleavage and a huge pink bow in her hair pranced up to us and twirled around daintily. "Hi hi Sanjuro-chan, Koujiro-chan! Doesn't Nobu-chan look so pretty-pretty cute?" It took me a moment to register that this was in fact Nobu Hojo, the notorious peeper, and the third biggest pervert in our school after Kunou and Ranma.

"Nobu?" I felt sick to my stomach. "Dear kami, there *are* mental effects!"

"Don't be silly," he replied in a very serious tone of voice. "I'm the same red-blooded guy, but as long as I've got this body, I might as well enjoy it. Besides," he went all starry-eyed, "kawaii li'l Nobu-chan can get into any ladies' dressing room in town!"

"Peeper's paradise, huh?" asked Koujiro. "But isn't there a little something missing?"

Nobu smirked. "Well, yeah, but I test-drove the new equipment last night, and it's good to go. The engine takes a little more time to warm up, but man, does it run!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's more than I needed to know, Nobu."

"That's Nobu-*chan*!" he pouted.

The bell rang, and we went to class, though with the confusion going on, nobody got put on bucket duty for being late to homeroom.

Kunou had reverted to his kendo outfit, with some pins keeping it from popping open. There was no sign of Deru at all. Like all the classes today, it was mostly the teacher trying to soldier on despite shellshock.

Between classes, I approached Momoko, a girl I've gone out with a few times. The Jusenkyo Water had been exceptionally kind to her.

"Looking hot, Momoko."

"Thank you, Sanjuro. Excuse me, I have to talk to Tetsuo now," she said, brushing me off.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, Tetsuo's a transfer student from over in Juuban, and just happened to be out of school yesterday. Lucky bastard. His desk was surrounded with girls, and I wasn't the only guy shooting dark looks his way. I guess he was a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but so what? At least he still had his proper parts.

Nabiki handed out some flyers with services listed, the most notable of which was the location of a nearby shop for "discreet replacement of undergarments." Seems she'd set this up for the girls once Happosai started doing regular panty raids in the neighborhood, and it was "now serving those with changing needs."

There was an assembly right after lunch. The Principal was wearing a really garish floral print muu-muu. I'm a little surprised it wasn't a grass skirt. After translation of his dialect, the gist was that boys were still expected to get monk-style haircuts, but girls could have any "attractive" hairdo. Also, it had been decided that the current girl's uniform was kind of tacky, so it would be replaced by a more flattering sailor fuku style.

Tetsuo went white for some reason, and most of the real girls cheered. Kunou speechified about how he would *never* wear one, but I heard he'd already worn one of his sister's the day before, and was now calling himself the Blue Rose. We had to form up in lines and get measured before we left. No, I'm not going to tell you my sizes. But if I really was a girl, they'd be respectable.

Several of the team didn't bother showing up for soccer practice, not that I can blame them. Boxer shorts were mostly okay, but I couldn't keep the jockstrap from riding wrong, and wearing a cup was kind of a joke. We broke up early.

After that, I went over to Koujiro's place and helped him scavenge his stuff from the trash bin. His mother had even tossed out his Nomo-autographed baseball! Bitch. We hauled the boxes over to home, the nice thing about having my sister Ichiko away at college is that we can use her room to store stuff.

When Grampa heard what'd happened, he insisted on tutoring me and Koujiro in the "manly arts" of smoking cigars, drinking sake, and playing poker. Neither of us quite got the hang of the first one. Frankly, cigars are one part of macho-ness I can skip. I did better at the poker playing, and Koujiro really took to sake.

He was on his fifth cup when his mother showed up, and boy was she mad! Koujiro was supposed to have met her for an interview to get into a fancy cram/charm school for proper young ladies. Then Grampa got into a shouting match with her about calling her son "Koko-chan." If that wasn't embarrassing enough, then he got started on the War, and Mom had to give him his pills.

After supper, I finally remembered to check up on Deru. The exorcism had failed (if it had worked, I would've converted, you bet) and now his parents were making him fast and sweat to weaken the "evil spirits" while they wait for the guru himself to fly in. They think this is their punishment for sending Deru to a secular school.

Time to finish my homework.

WEDNESDAY

There *are* mental effects. I was too distracted to notice yesterday, but looking back the girls were acting more, well, "girly" than usual. And a few of the guys have...changed. Joe Watanabe had this kind of glazed look in his eyes, and when I asked how he was coping, he asked, "Coping with what?"

"You know, with turning into a chick."

"Oh, I've always been a woman."

"That's not what *I* remember, Joe."

"I mean inside, Sanjuro-chan. I just never realized it before. I was too busy hiding behind my male shell. But now I can be my true self." He giggled.

I shuddered and backed away quickly.

There was still no sign of Ranma, and people got tired of paying Nabiki to say, "I'm still researching that. Would you like a cookie?"

It's going to be a while before she can actually sell cookies, except maybe as paperweights. Hope Ranma gets back from wherever soon.

Only two of the restrooms at school are labeled for "boys" now, one on the third floor and one on first. The real girls all got a big laugh out of the men actually having to wait in line. While it's just the signs on the doors right now, they're going to replace the urinals in the other restrooms with stalls soon. More overtime for Dad's company!

Between second and third periods, Koujiro tried to throw himself off the clock tower. Lucky they had someone on guard up there. The nurse had to give him a sedative, and Koujiro's mom was pulled out of work to get him. She agreed not to make him go to that "charm school" when the Principal told her that Fuurinkan's class schedule will be changing anyways to reflect the new gender mix.

The first of the new girls' uniforms came late in the afternoon. Just my luck, all my sizes were in stock. I keep praying it won't actually come to me in a fuku. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why Tetsuo is so upset. It's not like *he's* expected to wear one.

Coach announced that due to several resignations, and his being informed no other boys' soccer team would play us (believe it or not, there's actually a rule that sort of covers it!), we would be folded into the girls' soccer team. I'm pretty sure to make the first string, since they've needed a good wing all season.

No one answered at Deru's place. Hope he's okay.

Grampa took me, Nichie (my second-eldest sister) and Shiiko on in a game of poker. I'm getting pretty good at it, though Shiiko won the biggest pot. We all hit Grampa when he suggested strip poker.

THURSDAY

I had a weird dream last night. I've probably had weird dreams all week, but this one I remember.

In the dream, I was pregnant. Hugely, enormously, smuggling a watermelon under my dress pregnant. I had to waddle like a duck, and take potty breaks every hour, but I felt so happy and proud and fulfilled, and all my sisters were jealous because I was going to have a baby first, and I was practically glowing at the idea of breastfeeding my little bundle of joy, and the only worry I had was how I was going to keep the house clean enough for my wife--

And a voice that sounded a lot like me said, "Wife?"

Another voice that also sounded like me replied, "Of course, silly. I'm a guy."

"Oh, that's right," the first voice said, "Wait a minute. I'm a guy, and I'm *pregnant*? AAAGGHH!"

And I woke up.

My hair's gotten to the shaggy stage. I shaved this morning, just for the masculine feeling of it, since I only needed to take off the face hair once a week anyway when I was a boy, and slapped on some Old Spice.

Deru was back in school, wrapped head to toe in magenta robes that made it difficult to tell if he was human, let alone what gender he was.

"When the Guru couldn't cure me," Deru explained, "he declared that being a girl was obviously my Zuumlikkat'nort."

"Zoo-huh?"

"Destiny. Anyway, he said I could go back to school, as long as I dressed properly for a woman. If it still hasn't worn off or something by the end of term, he'll arrange a...union for me."

"Eww." I couldn't think of anything more encouraging to say.

"The only consolation so far is that my mother has to dress the same way. Before, she was slacking."

There were fewer male uniforms in sight today, and shorter lines at the boys' rooms. The latest reports said that the Jusenkyo Water we'd all been splashed with was from the Spring of Drowned Bishoujo Bride, which I guess explains why the girls were affected too, and why the Wedding Peach fan club had suddenly doubled in size.

At lunch, Happosai showed up. I think he's getting bored waiting for his big showdown. I helped chase him around for a while, and then the old pervert jumped me. I didn't even see him change direction!

He jumped onto my chest, burrowed into my shirt, and fastened onto my boobs. Yep, even through the bindings. I'd always thought girls overreacted to him. I mean, it's just a little rubbing, right? Wrong. Happosai doesn't just touch, he *violates*. The way he fondles you, you *know* he's taking something away from you.

"Interesting scent, Missy, but I think something with a floral note would suit you better," he cackled, then leapt away just as a bunch of brooms came down on me. Ouch.

A few more kids tried jumping from the clock tower today. Only one managed to get past the guard, a weirdo named Tsubasa who doesn't even go to our school. But the "clock gear" disguise he was wearing broke his fall, so he wasn't too badly hurt.

I did great at the soccer tryout, until my chest bindings snapped, I guess Happosai must have weakened them earlier, so I was jiggling all over the place. It's kind of hard to concentrate on ball control when you got that sort of thing going on.

Coach Kanzaki, the girls' soccer coach, said I still qualified for first string, since her team had a couple of resignations too. But then she told me I'd have to wear a sports bra.

I told her exactly what I thought of that notion.

"My, I haven't heard some of those words since I left the Defense Force." She laughed and slapped me on the back. "Nice to see you've got a little fire in you, but you still need to wear the bra. Kuonji trained for years to move in those chest bindings, and we only have until next Saturday."

I told her I'd think about it. Painful though it is, I've decided that giving up soccer would be worse than wearing the proper safety equipment.

After that I hooked up with a bunch of the guys that are still holding out and went to the arcade. I kicked ass on the new Mortal Kombat vs. Killer Instinct game, until Koujiro got in with me. He plays a mean Liu Kang.

Then we sneaked up on the arcade roof with some beer to girlwatch. I don't much like beer, and besides, I'm in training, so I just had a soda instead. After a while, I noticed something weird. The guys who were drinking the most were starting to use feminine speech--except Koujiro, and he was slugging down more than anyone.

Guess alcohol lowers your resistance to the "mental effects", and Koujiro just has a natural tolerance for booze. When I left, one of the guys I didn't know too well was wolf-whistling at delivery boys.

Well, if Koujiro can hold on with all the pressure he's been getting, I can too. That's it for tonight.

FRIDAY

Nichie sneaked into the bathroom last night and took some pictures of me naked. After I nearly strangled her, she promised they were *only* for me to have a record when I get cured. I made her pinky-swear Nabiki would never get a copy.

The Principal announced this morning that all the new fukus had arrived, so there wasn't any excuse for students to be out of uniform. We pretty much ignored him.

Tetsuo is practically climbing the walls; as the only full boy left in the class, he's the target of all the girls, real and "gone over." I hadn't noticed it before, but he's kind of cute when he squirms.

At lunch, I nipped over to "Nabiki's Secret", as we've taken to calling it, to get that sports bra. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. They didn't have any of the frilly fancy stuff on display. The clerk said it was all she could do to keep the normal undies in stock. She was very professional and non-pushy, seemed kind of bored, actually.

The bra was so much more comfortable than those bindings that I decided to just wear it for the rest of the day. Then I, well, I asked about panties. My boxers had been bunching up on me funny, and in there somehow I felt less embarrassed about trying on lingerie.

So I came out of the store wearing white cotton panties under my boys' uniform, and a week's supply of them in a bag from Osaka Hardware. I hope it won't come to me having to admit to Mom I've been wearing them when laundry day comes around, but they felt so comfy, if a little perverted.

Cutting back through the woods, I saw Nobu sitting under one of the trees and crying into his hair ribbon.

"Yo, Nobu-chan! What's wrong?" I could guess, sure, but you're supposed to ask.

He just looked up at me and started wailing again.

"C'mon, we're buds, you can tell me."

"Oh, Sanjuro-chan, it's so awful! I went to Shinda's to get my ecchi magazines, and--" Nobu had to blow his nose.

"They were sold out? The PTA made old man Shinda hide them again?"

"No, much worse! I just picked up the ones that attracted my eye, and this is what I found in my bag when I opened it!" He waved at a small pile of magazines on the ground. Pro Wrestling World, Pumping Iron, Men's Swimming Quarterly.

"So you accidentally picked up some sports rags instead of skin mags. You can try and exchange--"

"No, you don't understand! I don't even like those sports! I just want to drool over muscular men in trunks! Nobu-chan's turning into a girl for real! WAAH!" He was really broke up about this.

"Don't cry, Nobu-chan. You've just got to hang on a little bit longer. They'll find a cure soon," I said, not totally believing it myself. I figured if Nobu finished slipping over, he wouldn't blame me for being optimistic.

I helped him back to class, careful not to talk about what I had in *my* bag. We got bucket duty, of course.

Koujiro wasn't looking so good, apparently a tolerance for booze doesn't prevent hangovers. Worse, his mom had given him some really bad news. It seems one of his cousins is getting married next month, and Kanto-san volunteered him as a bridesmaid, so tomorrow afternoon he has to go to a bridal shop to be fitted for a dress.

I promised me and a few of the guys would go along for moral support.

Soccer practice went okay, all things considered. It is a lot easier moving in a sports bra.

When I mentioned what I'm doing tomorrow, Mom hauled out the wedding album and told me all about how she'd gotten married to Dad. Turns out it was an arranged marriage, but it came out okay (unlike that Ranma/Akane thing that's been all the school gossip for the last year) and Mom made being the bride sound really cool.

Grampa taught me yakuza-style craps. I'm not as good at that as poker. Shiiko cleaned us both out. I am beginning to suspect her "innocent little girl" bit is just an act.

SATURDAY

Nobu went over during the night, though he's still a pervert, for a girl. If Ranma doesn't get back soon, there may be no one left to save.

Those of us still clinging to our masculinity one way or another are pretty easy to spot. We're the ones not smiling. Deru's still doing pretty good, considering. I hope he was kidding about the "chastity belt."

Koujiro's mom ended up escorting eight of us guys to the bridal shop, though only about half of us qualify as boys in anything but birth certificate anymore.

Koujiro's cousin had picked an exceptionally silly-looking gown for her bridesmaids. Even if he's stuck as a girl forever, he's never going to wear *that* dress again. But his mom was making all kinds of cooing noises over it, and the goneovers were all saying how wonderful the stupid thing was.

Me, I wandered over to the tuxedo section. According to the sales person, women getting tuxedos fitted is getting more common these days. She showed me one with dark blue highlights they were doing for some chick named Ten'ou over in Juuban.

After a really long time, they were done with the fitting, though Koujiro will have to come back for another one when they've finished the adjustments. Unfortunately, his mom had brought along an ankle-length skirt and lacy blouse for him to change into.

As she herded us to the ice cream parlor, Kanto-san invited all of us on a field trip to that famous wedding chapel tomorrow. She's taking Koujiro so he can see how a bridesmaid is supposed to behave. We weren't looking where we were going, so the group ended up taking a shortcut through a deserted alley. Or it should have been deserted.

The mouth of the alley was suddenly cut off by four big, nasty-looking guys, and when I looked back, there were three more behind us.

One of them seemed to be the leader, because he was the only one wearing mirrorshades, and he talked first. "Well, well, the rumors were true. Fuurinkan neighborhood really does have a bunch of pretty girls now. Friendly girls, too, I heard. You ladies wouldn't mind having a little party with me and the boys, would you?" He smiled like a shark.

The goneovers squealed in fright and tried to hide behind me and the other holdouts. I was scared myself. I couldn't have handled these thugs when I was all boy, what chance did I have in a weak girl body?

The thugs laughed at us.

"You can't get away with this!" insisted Koujiro's mom. "The police will--"

"The police in this neighborhood are all weak little girls too, now. And I heard that all those famous martial artists got squirted or ran away. So it's just you and us." Where *was* Ranma when we really needed him?

"How about we make the old biddy watch?" asked one of the other thugs. He had an impressive display of piercings. He grabbed Kanto-san.

"You leave Mom alone!" yelled Koujiro, and jumped the thug, only to get backhanded into a wall, hard. That was the signal for the other thugs to start grabbing us.

I noticed a faint blue glow around Koujiro, and then his head snapped up, and there was a new look in his eyes.

"I can't fight in this outfit," he declared, and ripped off most of his skirt and the long sleeves on the blouse. There was something about the way he was standing, and the tone of his voice. The fear was gone. He kicked off his high heels.

Koujiro cracked his knuckles, ran at the thug holding his mom, ducked another backhand, and broke the creep's grabbing arm.

While that thug was howling in pain, the others started attacking Koujiro, which distracted them from the rest of us. I used a couple of soccer fouls to inflict pain, which gave the others enough courage to pelt the creeps with their purses and other weapons of opportunity.

Kanto-san finally remembered she had some pepper spray, and used it on the leader. They ran after that.

But the definite hero of the day was Koujiro. He'd taken some hits, including what was going to be a major shiner, but he'd given a lot worse than he'd gotten. And it seemed like he had a lot more muscle definition now than before. For a moment, I wanted Koujiro to be a man again so I could kiss him.

"Are you all right, Koko-chan?" asked his mom.

"I am fine, honored Mother," he replied. "They were weaklings who could not stand before a true warrior."

From his stance, choice of words, and not complaining about being called "Koko-chan", it was obvious Koujiro had gone over, but it wasn't to the same place the rest of the guys were going.

His mom took a good look at the shiner. "Maybe we should let a doctor see that, pumpkin."

"Pah!" he spat. "This is nothing compared to what will kill me."

He did agree to being made presentable, so we stopped at the nearest clothing store, where Koujiro picked out a leather mini-skirt and bustier. Kind of daring, but he carried it well.

Then it was off to the ice cream parlor, where we celebrated the victory.

Spent the rest of the day goofing off and watching sports on TV with Dad.

Just realized I don't have anything suitable to wear to that wedding chapel.

SUNDAY

[Editor's note: This entry has extremely poor calligraphy, no doubt due to Sanjuro's condition at the time. We have translated it as faithfully as possible.]

My hair is nearly a foot long now. I just pulled it into a ponytail today, but eventually I'll have to figure out something to do with it.

Wound up borrowing Nichie's good pantsuit to wear on the trip. I figured she owed me one for the photos. Besides, girls' clothes, boys' clothes, as long as they fit, right? Was a bit tight around the chest.

Koko-ch--*Koujiro* wore a little primrose number, under protest.

He kept muttering about "lack of protective value" and "I at least should have a knife." His mom didn't look too happy with her "daughter", but wasn't as pushy as she's been lately. I think she's a little afraid of him now. None of the other holdouts showed for the trip, but Nobu did, in a black cocktail dress that looked painted on.

The train trip up was pretty nice, except for the guys who tried to grope us when it got crowded. Neither of them was particularly good at it, and a little pain discouraged them, especially when they found out we were from Furinkan.

The chapel was everything it's cracked up to be, and very impressive. I'm sticking in a flyer on it. The ceremony (someone Kanto-san knows from her work) was very pretty, but kind of long. I don't know if Koujiro learned anything about being a bridesmaid, since it looked to me like they just stood around looking pretty. After that was the reception, which was more fun, though at first it was the buffet I was most interested in.

Nobu was flirting shamelessly with the boys, though he quickly learned not to tell them where he was from. Koujiro, though, was loudly claiming sh--*he, dammit, why can't I think straight?* wasn't going to go with any guy who hadn't "proved himself in battle." The punch turned out to be spiked. I don't know what kind of alcohol it was, but it was real smooth. I didn't realized it was spiked until there'd already been four or five toasts. The bride was looking really happy, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, getting married. Things get a little fuzzy after that. I know I had some more punch, maybe a lot more punch, and I'm pretty sure I slow danced with a couple of boys.

I definitely remember Koujiro taking all comers at armwrestling. Koujiro's mom decided it was time to take us home when she caught Nobu making out with an usher behind some bushes. The only thing I remember about the trip back is all us gir--*GUYS, we're guys!* singing "Can You See the Joy?" in two-and-a-half-part harmony. Grampa slugged some coffee into me, and told me to write this all down while I can remember it.

Remember...it's getting harder to remember feeling like a boy. I think back to before I got cursed, but my mental image is of me in a girl body.... I'm so tired of fighting this thing, when it's just going to win in the end. Fuku's hung up, looking crisp and clean. Think I'll wear it tomorrow. Just to fit in. It would be so nice to give in....

MONDAY 2

Woke up this morning with a really bad hangover. Felt like somebody was trying to thrust an icepick out through my temples. This was not helped by Nichie yelling at me for borrowing her stuff without asking, though she did get me out of bed. Grampa'd left me some of his "Guaranteed Morning After Elixer." Guess it works by tasting worse than your head aches. I was halfway to school before I noticed a draft on my legs and realized I was wearing the fuku.

What creeps me out is that it didn't feel creepy. For the first time in a week, everything I was wearing fit, and I actually had to remind myself I hadn't wanted it to. I guess getting drunk really lowered my mental defenses, and the curse took full advantage of it. I can almost feel it in the back of my brain, eating the last shreds of my manhood.

All day long, it's been getting harder to fight. It just seems so much easier to say "atashi" instead of "ore" or even "boku". Every time I see my reflection, I want to "do something" with my face and hair so boys will think I'm pretty.

Boys...I'm having fantasies about marrying a boy and--and-- making love to him. The curse is telling me how much fun it will be, how normal it is, how...natural. I look at Momoko, and the closest thing to sexual feelings I have for her is "potential rival". I don't even *want* to look at Tetsuo, because of what I might feel.

I shucked the fuku as soon as I came home and dressed up in my old clothes. The briefs feel...weird, almost forbidden. And when I look in the mirror, I see a girl playing dress-up in her brother's clothes, looking silly. And I see the look in my eyes...the "haunted" look of those about to go over. Tomorrow, the next day at the latest. I'll fight it as long as I can, but I'm not going to win.

I wonder how much of me will be left? Some people, like Nabiki, are almost themselves. If you ignore the big stuff, Kunou is pretty close to how he was before, with the bokken and poetry and junk. About all that's left of Nobu is his sex drive, he was always pushing girls for all the way on the first date, and he's only switched it around now. Koujiro was always trying to act "tough", now he thinks he's Xena or something. And other guys, the ones that didn't have anything that stood out, I don't see anything of their old selves at all. They're pure stereotype girls.

I feel the Bishoujo Bride shredding things in my mind, and I'm afraid there won't be much left when it's done. Nothing that anyone will recognize anyway. This might be my last chance...

Mom, Dad, I love you. Please remember the me that used to be, even if I forget. Grampa, pray for me. Ichiko, Nichie, I'm sorry for all the times I teased you for being too "girly" or claimed women were stupid. Shiiko, I wish I could have seen you grow up, and been a better big brother. Most of my friends are already gone, and soon I'll be joining them, wherever it is. I hope I'll be able to write more tomorrow, but if I can't, not "goodbye" but "until we meet again".

TUESDAY 2

When I look back at my entries for last week, I have to shake my head. How could I have been so silly? I mean, actually thinking of the Becoming as a curse? Today I woke up feeling refreshed and at peace with myself. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and all was right with the world. I decided to go with a simple braid until I can get my hair professionally done.

Then I put on my fuku and twirled in front of the mirror. Yes, it was ever so much prettier than wearing that icky boys' uniform. It's kind of sad I don't have anything else nice to wear, but I'm sure Ichiko and Nichie will lend me stuff until I can build up my wardrobe. I saw I was running a little late, so I just grabbed my lunch and ran out without talking to anyone. At school, I bought a makeup kit from Nabiki, along with a "how-to" booklet. I'd seen other transformed girls really mess up the first time without instructions.

Things went much more smoothly now that I was acknowledging who I truly was, instead of pretending to be my old self. I was able to get my schedule switched around so I could take Cooking and Fashion Design. And I could talk to the other girls about important things like what shade polish to use on my toenails without getting embarrassed.

I have to pity the poor girls who are still denying the Becoming. I remember how miserable I was last week. Oh well, they'll join us soon.

What's going on with Koko-chan is a bit harder to figure out. She's such a violent tomboy now! It's like she was splashed by an entirely different spring. Now she wants to get combat training from that old lady that runs the Nekohanten, because "Amazon tribes are sensibly run, with the women in charge."

I talked to Coach Kanzaki, because I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in soccer, but she reminded me that women who get a lot of exercise have easier childbirths. Besides, the team can't afford to lose any more players. And when I got out on the field, I realized I really do love the game. When I got home, Mama seemed surprised to see me. But she recovered and let me know someone had called. I called them back, and it turned out to be Kei, one of the boys I'd danced with at the reception. I'd given him my phone number, one of the things I didn't remember Sunday night, and he wanted to know if I'd like to go on a date with him. Kei had a nice voice, and I think I remember he's good-looking, so naturally I said "Yes!"

We're going to the movies this weekend. Let's face it, the competition for the few boys at Furinkan is way too intense, and I'm beginning to suspect Tetsuo is gay. How else could he resist our charms?

My family didn't take the news as well as I'd hoped. Mama bit her lip and looked ready to cry. Papa was very cross. I know he was looking forward to having a son follow in his footsteps, but I'm sure he'll see that a son-in-law is just as good.

Grandfather had another of his episodes, talking about how "The priestess warned me, but no, I just had to get off that island!"

The reaction that hurt the most was Shiiko's. "You're not Sanjuro! You're some kind of pod person! Give back my brother!" "But Shiiko-chan, I am Sanjuro, but now I'm my true feminine self. I'll be a terrific big sister, you'll see!" I assured her. "I've got two big sisters already! I want my big brother, and I'm not going to talk to you until you bring him back!" She ran out of the room. No one wanted to talk after that. Everyone was upset, but there wasn't anything that could be done. I'm sure they'll all see what a wonderful thing the Becoming is eventually.

Deru is still resisting, I think. Hard to tell under those robes of hers. Ranma might as well stay away now. Happosai seems to have disappeared, and now I realize that being "cured" would actually be a bad thing. I never want to go back to being that horrible rude, violent, selfish boy! I'd much rather make someone a terrific wife.

Well, that's it for tonight, so this is San-chan signing off!

[Editor's note: While the journal continues, its tone and focus change radically, and the entries become much less useful to the beginning student. There is, for example, a fifteen page essay on San's shoe shopping experiences, complete with a detailed description of each pair of shoes tried on.]

[Thus, we will summarize what we believe to be the important events of the next two weeks before Ranma Saotome's return.]

[San (nee Sanjuro) Tanaka led her team to victory in the soccer games played during this period, despite protests from the other schools' coaches. She went on her date with Kei, who turned out to be average-looking, and had a good time. Her father made sure to impress upon Kei her "true nature" and the hope for a cure, so the young man did not attempt anything beyond hand-holding.]

[Koko (nee Koujiro) Kanto was allowed to begin training as a provisional member of the Joketsuzoku tribe of Amazons.]

[Nobu continued to be a brazen hussy.]

[No further mention of Deru is made, apparently she dropped off San's radar completely.]

[For a full edition of the journal, please check with the Manuscript Department.]