December 2, 1989
It’s been about 3 months now since Ranma left home, and about 8 months since the Full-Body Cat’s Tongue trapped her as a girl. Ever since the Phoenix Pill was destroyed, there’s been an emptiness in her, a depression that scared me to see in her. When she ran away that night back in September, I was all but sure she was going to hurt herself.
As you know, diary, I’ve often wondered what happened to her. If she was okay. And then, last week, Nabiki went to a bar in Minato called the Phoenix one night after class, and guess who she bumped into?! Turns out, Ranma’s not just okay - she’s better than she’s ever been!
She’s just… not Ranma anymore.
I went to see her last night. I wanted to scream at her, hit her, and tell her off for scaring me like that. But when I saw her, sitting there in a pretty dress with that big, goofy smile on her face… I just couldn’t. All I could do was wrap my arms around her.
She’s started calling herself Ranko, and it sounds as if she’s starting to get used to the idea of living as a girl. I get the desire to change her name, and leave the past behind so she can move on, but it’s hard to think of that idiot as anything but Ranma. I’m going to have to get used to it, though, because she seems really serious about it. She burned her old identification card and everything. The crazy thing isn’t that she went with Ranko - it’s that it’s Ranko Tendo. I mean, I’d want to ditch the Saotome name too, but the fact that she took mine, as if we were married or something…
I’ll admit, diary, but don’t tell anybody: I haven’t stopped blushing since she told me, and not for lack of trying.
Turns out, she’s working at the bar. She tried finding a job teaching martial arts, but with the Cat’s Tongue making every hit she takes feel like a wrecking ball, it’s still really hard for her to fight against anybody who’s any good. I guess she decided she had to find something else to do - or just got desperate out there on the street, I don’t know. I can’t imagine how hard it was for her out there. It breaks my heart. She didn’t really want to talk about it much, and I can’t say as I blame her.
Anyway, she started working at the Phoenix as a waitress last month, just before her birthday. While she still does that, they’ve got her singing karaoke every shift now, too. Can you believe it, diary? Our Ranma, singing every day for strangers?! But here’s the crazy thing - she looks like she’s having the time of her life doing it, and she’s really good, too! Crowds show up every day to watch her! I’m glad, too - that’s how Nabiki found her, after all.
The crazy thing about her job is that her boss seems to have… adopted her. Like, Ranma Ranko literally calls her Mama. Her name is Hana. I met her, and she’s super nice. She’s letting Ranko stay in a little apartment above the bar. It’s not much, but it got her off the park bench, and I’m grateful for it. I think I’ll sleep better at night just knowing she’s safe and dry.
To hear Ranko tell it, she’s not even the first girl Hana took in like this, but the fifth. Apparently this is just… a thing they do there, where girls come there to work that have their share of problems, and this Hana lady just sort of plucks them out of hell and stuffs them into this haphazard family they have going on. They all consider themselves sisters, and they treat Ranko like she’s always been one of their own. Like, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear they were family as long as me and Kasumi.
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There’s Ayako, the oldest. She just got married a few months ago - Kage is the guy’s name, I think Ranko said? They live out in Yokohama, and Ayako doesn’t work in the bar anymore. I didn’t get a chance to meet her, but Ranko says she’s really cool, and she likes to cook. Guess I won’t have much to relate to her on. Ranko says she got caught stealing as a teenager, and Hana took her in to keep her from going to jail. Something about the look on Ranko’s face told me there was more to that story than she was telling me, but I didn’t press.
Then there’s Yui Fukawa - I think Ranko said she was 28. She’s the lead bartender at the Phoenix, and she’s an absolute firecracker. She gives Ranko so much shit, but it’s hilarious, and Ranko dishes it right back! She reminds me a lot of Nabiki, and I think maybe she does for Ranko, too. She seems to be the closest with Ranko out of all of them. She gave Ranko a cool bracelet, a silver dragon, for her birthday that Ranko wears to cover the scar on her wrist where Mousse cut her and made her drop the Phoenix Pill in the fire.
Ranko said Yui came to the Phoenix after her family disowned her for being with a girl. I dread to think what Dad would think if he knew what I’ve been thinking all morning. I spent the night at the bar last night with her. We didn’t do anything, but it was nice to just spend time with her. Gods, I missed her. Can you believe she cooked me breakfast?! And it was pretty decent! Who even is this girl?!
Anyway, the girls! There’s Izumi Konichi - Izzi, Ranko calls her. She’s 25 and works there tending bar and serving tables. She’s got a 7-year-old son, which is apparently the reason she ended up in trouble after a bad breakup with the kid’s dad. But now, she’s working on a degree in fashion design and dating a really stable guy Ranko seems to like. (If that’s the kind of turnaround all these girls have, I’m so glad Ranko fell in with them.) And boy, does this girl bring it in the beauty game. She’s got Ranko wearing dresses and bras! She’s got her wearing makeup, painting her nails, letting her hair down, all of it. Would you believe that little shit has a purse?! I swear, she makes a cuter girl than me! (Don’t you dare tell her I said so!) Kasumi tried that stuff with her after the Cat’s Tongue, and Ranko all but bit her head off. I don’t know if Izumi is just that persuasive, if Ranko’s doing it for the benefit of the stage, or if she actually just… is starting to like it, but it’s nice.
Diary, if you ever tell another soul the way my heart raced the first time I saw her smile at me in that yellow dress…
… where was I? Right! Mei! She’s the youngest - probably 2 or 3 years older than Ranko. Girl’s got bright-ass blue hair like she’s straight out of a manga. Crazy, but it kinda works for her, especially since she’s so short. She waitresses there, and helps in the bar’s kitchen, too. Apparently, she had a drug problem as a kid and that’s how she ended up at the Phoenix. She’s the one that got Ranko into singing. Ranko said she had to defend her once when some guys tried to get fresh in an alley, and I guess the two have gotten close since then. She’s big into sci-fi, video games, and fantasy stuff. (She tried to tell me she’s gonna get Ranko to watch Star Wars. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were her.) She’s going to the same college as Nabiki, but Ranko doesn’t know what for. She doesn’t think Mei does, either.
Ranko hasn’t told them much about her past, and certainly not about Jusenkyo. I don’t think she intends to. She just feels really ashamed about it still, I think - not so much shame that she’s a girl, like she used to feel. Now, it’s more like she doesn’t want people to look at her like she’s an oddity that’s been touched by magic. She just wants to be normal - whatever that looks like for her. Nothing about the girl I met last night is normal for Ranma, but somehow, for Ranko? It fits just right.
I’m going to try to go see her again soon. We’ve decided not to tell Dad, Kasumi, or Mr. Saotome where she is - or even that we found her - for now. Nabiki knows, obviously, but so far she’s kept her mouth shut - and hasn’t even blackmailed me for money to do so. (We’ll see how long that lasts.) Ranko seems determined to have her fresh start, and anything I can do to make sure she gets it, I will.
Even if it means I have to get out everything I feel here in my diary, so I can go downstairs for dinner and pretend not to be walking on clouds thinking about the pretty waitress in the yellow dress that took my name.
