[Ranma][FanFic][Lemon] Ranma .05 Volume 3 Part 3

[Lee Ginther]

Ranma .05 Vol. 3, Part 2 (Conclusion)
Lost Love
Warning: It may come as a surprise to some of you, but this series
is rated as a LEMON, and thus may contain scenes of graphic sex.
(Imagine that!!) These are included purely for your reading
pleasure, so if you object, leave now or forever hold your pieces.
Ranma .05...now with the new, lemony-fresh scent.
Produced by: Horde O' Hentai Productions, Literature Division
Darren Demaine: Chairman of the Horde
Lee (Grey Wolf): Guy We Rub for Luck
Rob (Barbarian): Breath Weapon Specialist
Craig (Dr. Ruminahui): Minister without Parole
Written by: Darren Demaine
Series concept: Darren Demaine
Shamelessly plagiarizing works done by: Takahashi Rumiko-megamisama
The sun was disappearing amongst the taller buildings as Ranma
casually jogged his way home upon the alley wall. It was quite a
ways back to the dojo, and whereas most people would probably have
taken the train to Nerima, he saw it as another opportunity to work
out. He was in this ward because Hiroshi and Daisuke had asked if
he wanted to come with them to a friend's place after school. As
he had nothing else planned, it had seemed like a good idea; Akane
had something she wanted to get done, so he'd taken up the
opportunity to get out with a couple of the guys for a change.
Unfortunately, what the guys considered 'a night on the town'
didn't quite meet with Ranma's approval. At first he'd had a great
time; a friend of Hiroshi's had invited them over along with some
other guys from a different school. It had been fun until a bunch
of them wanted to watch videos; the tapes of choice being H-anime.
Ranma had argued against watching the Goddess Film's 'Sexy Dynamite
2,' but had been loudly and forcefully outvoted. While pornos
really weren't too high on Ranma's list of a good way to spend his
time, having one of the other new guys constantly throw up whenever
a naked woman appeared really wrecked the night.
After the videos, (and cleaning up the mess), the gang had
started arguing, some wanting to see 'Babewatch' while Hiroshi and
Daisuke had been partial to 'Zena: Warrior Priestess.' For Ranma,
seeing half naked females was something he had too much of in his
life, and watching girls beat the stuffing out of guys was not what
he considered at all entertaining. He'd left while the argument
was still going on.
Girls, girls, girls...that's just about all the other guys
ever thought of. It was just about all he ever thought of as well,
but in his case it was how best to deal with or avoid them. There
was a world of difference between him and the other guys, but he
did have to privately admit that when things worked out with a
girl, they really worked out well.
Unnoticed to himself, his pace on the wall he was walking on
changed to a slightly more bouncy step. So caught up his internal
image of smug happiness, he was oblivious to the solid wall before
him spiderwebbing with cracks from an unseen source. A sudden
explosive burst tore out a large circular section of wall just
ahead of Ranma, and through the clouds of dust a slightly ragged
figure in torn yellowish clothing staggered in.
Leaning heavily on an improvised cane Ryoga gasped, his
shoulders heaving from exhaustion. "Where am I now!?" he called
out desperately, not really expecting an answer.
Still gazing into the sunset and happily oblivious to his
surroundings, Ranma continued skipping merrily forwards until he
put his foot down in a place where Ryoga's entrance had removed
that part of the wall. He flipped forwards and the two old
friends were reunited as their heads met with a hollow sounding
*clang*.
"Ow! Who the...Ryoga? Kuso...where did you come from?"
Ranma snarled at the other, clutching his aching head in his hands.
Ryoga too held his smarting noggin as he turned to glare at his
tormenter, then blinked in surprise.
"Ranma...so, I'm finally back in Nerima." A sombre look
replacing the grimace, Ryoga released his head and got to his feet
as Ranma did likewise. "After all this time...I'm finally
back...no more fighting my way through jungles, no more rivers to
dodge, no more crossing the Desert of Bleached White Bones..."
"Actually, this isn't Nerima," Ranma supplied cheerfully.
"It's the next ward over."
"NO!" screamed Ryoga. "How can I be so close and yet so far!"
He started to bang his head repeatedly against what little of the
wall remained.
"Hey, Ryoga," Ranma called. As much as he enjoyed taunting
the pig-boy, Ranma really did have to talk to him. Besides, that
wall could not take much more abuse. "Listen man, I got to talk to
you about P-chan-"
Ryoga stopped bashing his head and stared wildly ahead.
"P-chan...Kami-sama...how is she going to react to that?! I never
told her!"
"Of course you never told Akane," Ranma snapped. "If you had,
I wouldn't need to do this, but now I don't have a choice."
Carefully, he collected his thoughts and launched into a nice
little speech he decided he really should have thought about
before.
"Now Ryoga, I know what you feel for that uncute tomboy, and
while I've never in any way interfered in the past with you as
P-chan, the time has come for this charade to end. Things have
changed."
"What'll she say?" Ryoga moaned.
"Well, not really c-changed," Ranma continued, now staring
down at his busily intertwining fingers. "I wouldn't really
describe anything as having changed, 'cause nothing's going on
between Akane and me! Got that?! Nothing! I mean, this whole
engagement thing is still our parents' idea, and I'm not in any way
interested in that brick!"
"How could I have done...that...without telling her..."
"And...you know...it's just that...I'm concerned...not about
Akane. No, no, no! It's...um....you, Ryoga! It's you I'm worried
about, yeah! It hurts me to see a guy like yourself wasting your
life on a chick like Ak-...her. So, although I've been a saint 'n
all not interfering with you being P-chan, I just can't stand by
anymore and let you wreck your life."
"She'll kill for lying to her...For not lying to
her...for...for everything!"
"A-and so," Ranma continued, swallowing hard, "I j-just want
to say that I-I'm not going to let you be Akane's pet anymore.
It's for Ak-...your own good. If you want to fight me over it, go
right ahead, but that's the way it's got to be, got it?!"
Forceful now Ranma looked up at his rival, features hard and
determined, ready for the fight he knew would be the result of his
proclamation.
Would have been, had not Ryoga wandered right past Ranma
somewhere in the middle of that speech, a dazed expression on his
face.
"I don't have the right to face her...I'm doomed..."
Stunned, Ranma stood there blinking stupidly for a few
moments. Suddenly he spun around to face Ryoga's back. "Hey! Get
back here you idiot! I'm talking to you!"
"I'm the lowest..."
"Hey, stupid!"
"I have no hope..."
"P-chan!"
"I'm a goner..."
"Nerima is *that* way!" Ranma shouted, pointing in the
opposite direction from Ryoga's line of travel.
That seemed to get through to Ryoga as he stopped and turned
around. While Ranma watched, the lost one's features hardened into
something concrete. "You're right. The only honourable thing to
do is explain everything and take what I have coming to me."
"Hey, have you been listening?"
"Thanks, Ranma," Ryoga said as he started to walk by the
pig-tailed boy again. Ranma put his foot into the other's face as
he passed.
"Excuse me, but I'm trying to tell you something!"
Ryoga casually punched Ranma into what remained of the wall.
"I don't have time for this! I've got to go see her!"
"Didn't you hear me?! I'm not letting you sleep in Akane's
bed anymore!" Ranma yelled, grabbing him by his collar.
"What are you talking about?! Let me go!"
"Just hear me out before you get lost again!" Ranma yelled
back, tightening his grip on Ryoga's shirt.
"Let me go!" Ryoga barred his fangs and pulled the other
closer, ready to fight.
"Ryoga? Is that you?"
Both boys looked over their shoulders, surprise cutting though
their anger. Though the lengthening shadows they could see the
outline of a figure rapidly approach. Realization sliced through
Ryoga and his eyes widened in sudden irrational terror.
"Yipes!" He barked, and sprang straight up from the road,
dragging a surprised Ranma along with him. A few seconds later
Ukyou walked into sight, glancing around intently.
"Strange," she muttered, deflating a little. "It sure sounded
like Ryoga." She sighed slightly and looked down at the ground,
depressed. Still gazing at her feet she leaned back against a tree
that overhung the path.
<Damn...I must be hearing things. I kinda knew he got lost
all the time, but I really didn't know it was this bad...I...I just
want to talk with him.> She sighed again, then gave herself a soft
thump on the head. <Well, maybe not right now...after all, I came
out here to get away from everyone so I could do a little thinking.
Still,> she thought a little wistfully, <I do kinda feel the need
to get this off my chest. How the hell did it all seem so clear
before?>
Unbeknownst to her, amongst the leaves in the tree above,
Ryoga and Ranma were crouching there silently, watching. Ryoga was
turning pale and breathing heavily as he looked down upon her,
while Ranma was turning blue and just trying to breath as Ryoga
kept his hand firmly clenched over Ranma's mouth and nose.
Swallowing, Ryoga looked down at the girl below. Ukyou...the
person he'd thought about non-stop for the weeks he'd been
wandering. The girl who had taken his uncomplicated, depressing
life full of straight forward problems and single-handedly turned
it into a complicated, depressing life full of complex problems.
What had passed between them had left him shaken to the very depths
of his soul. What he was feeling was strange, powerful, confusing.
It frightened him as he'd never been frightened before. He needed
to talk to her...needed to know what she was thinking...but most of
all, he needed to get the hell out of there before she saw him.
He tried to scramble out along the upper branches, but Ranma,
after he got his breath back, grabbed Ryoga and yanked him back.
"What's this all about, bacon boy?" Ranma snarled viciously.
"Quiet!" Ryoga whispered back, clubbing Ranma hard on the
head. "She'll hear us!"
"It's just Ukyou," Ranma growled, kicking Ryoga in the chin.
"I know! That's why I'm worried!" he answered, putting Ranma
in a headlock.
The two fighters strained against each other, then suddenly
froze into motionlessness as a new voice floated up from below.
"Hi! I didn't expect to see you here."
"Akane-chan?" Ukyou asked in surprise, staring at the other
girl as Akane walked in under the leafy canopy, a small wrapped
package held in her arms.
"What are you doing here Ukyou? Shouldn't you be running
Ucchan's?"
Ukyou fidgeted as she answered. "Ah...well, I-I just had a
little on my mind I wanted to work out. I decided to take the
night off."
"Is something wrong?" Akane wondered.
"Oh, no," Ukyou laughed, a little forced. "It's nothing
important. I have to admit though," she continued, trying to turn
the conversation to less troublesome grounds, "I really didn't
expect to meet anyone I knew out here. I mean, what are you doing
in this ward?"
"Oh, I was heading for a train to go back home. I met a girl
at the school's martial arts tournament, and she invited me over
for a practice session if I was interested. She was pretty good;
had a nice grasp of shotokan karate. I was hoping I could get her
to come to the dojo to train, I don't think it's too likely."
"Why not?" Ukyou asked.
"Sakura's parents are set on her becoming a Shinto priestess."
"Oh. Hey, what's that?" Ukyou asked, motioning to the package
Akane carried against her chest.
"Just something I ordered a little while ago, but they didn't
have any in the Nerima store. They put it on order for me and one
came up at a location around here."
"Really, what is it?" Ukyou asked, leaning in a little.
Akane quickly moved the parcel behind her back, bushing slightly as
she did so.
"Oh, j-just a little something I wanted to pick up. Really,
it's nothing."
Up above in the tree, both guys were silently watching the
exchange between the girls. Ranma was trying vainly to slide out
of Ryoga's grip, but Ryoga didn't notice. His whole attention was
directed towards the two women unaware of their presence.
<Akane-san,> he thought, mistaking the body-blows Ranma was giving
him for the pounding of his heart. <My first, true love...Ukyou,
after what we've done, how can I ignore you? But Akane-san I hold
you in my heart like no other.> His eyes closed as they began to
burn with tears. <Why? Why must they be here now?! What should I
do?! I don't know! I'm confused! I'm lost! I'm...I'm...I'm
starting to sound like Kuno.>
His eyes glazed over. <Now I'm really depressed.>
Below them, Akane smiled at her friend. "Say Ukyou, want to
go and get something to eat?"
"Eh?"
"Come on, a girl's night out. It'll be fun without having
those boars around."
"I wouldn't describe the guys as boring," Ukyou replied,
smiling slightly. "But sure...I could use dinner right about now.
We should head indoors anyway." She glanced around. "The air's
kinda heavy, it feels like a thunderstorm."
"Strange," Akane replied, moving away with her. "There isn't
a cloud in the sky."
As the girls walked away, Ranma redoubled his efforts to break
free of Ryoga's grip. Very quietly, a now peaceful looking Ryoga
took a deep cleansing breath and seemed to relax. "Ranma?" he
asked.
"Yeah?"
Calmly, Ryoga's grip on Ranma tightened. "I think you ought
to know I'm feeling very depressed."

*KA-BOOM!*
"Ah, I was right Akane-chan. Thunder and lightning back where
we were."
"Good thing we left, huh?"
* * *
Later, two bruised and battered guys were sitting beside each
other at an outdoor yatai. Heads hidden by the overhanging sign,
they did not talk much, both busy on eating. Behind the grill, the
old man running the place seemed to blissfully ignore them.
Slurping up his noodles, Ryoga grunted over at the other.
"Hey."
"Yeah?" Ranma answered, not bothering to pause in eating.
"How do you deal with it?"
"What?"
"You know, all the girls." Ryoga reached for his glass of
water. "I mean, you're an arrogant bastard and an unfaithful guy,
yet the girls still come after you. You gotta know something.
How...do you talk to a girl? I mean just talk to her?"
"What's this all about, Ryoga? You finally thinking about
telling Akane the truth? You can't say three special little words
to her without getting all tongue tied. You're hopeless."
"I am not!"
"I dare you," Ranma taunted. "Come on, just repeat after me:
Akane..."
"A-Akane..." Ryoga stuttered, visions of long brown hair and
green eyes distracting him.
"I'm P-chan."
"I'm P-" Ryoga blinked, then glared at the grinning Ranma.
"You know," he forced out through clenched teeth, "I think I
understand why women gravitate towards you."
"Why? My chiselled good looks, my undeniable masculinity, or
is it the fact I'm a such a great guy?"
"They just recognize one of their own," Ryoga replied, dumping
his glass of water over Ranma.
"Hey!" the short red-headed girl sputtered. "I am not a
girl!"
Ryoga smirked and continued to eat. After a moment of silent
fuming Ranma-chan gave up and returned to her food as well.
His smirk faded quickly and Ryoga fell back into another glum
mood as he ate. Finally he tried again. "Honestly Ranma, how do
you talk to a girl?" For a long while Ranma ate quietly, thinking
about the other's question. Then she just shrugged.
"Hard to say. They expect ya to bring up things like feeling
and hopes and dreams and other things like that...but ya also gotta
be careful 'cause it's easy to set them off if you dig too deep.
They expect you to be the man, but they also get annoyed if you
don't know when they want you to get all mushy and stuff...They
want you to talk to them, but they can also get really mad if you
say the wrong thing, get it?"
Ryoga ate silently, chewing over the information. "So...the
final result of living with three girls, having four chasing after
you, and being a girl-"
"I am not a girl!"
"-is that you don't know anything."
"Hey! I...I know more then you do," Ranma replied quietly,
thinking about the recent changes in her life.
"That'll be the day," Ryoga returned quietly, thinking about
his own new experiences.
<Like I'm going to tell him about that!> each thought sharply,
hiding their sudden embarrassment by eating.
"So, ah...I've been away for awhile...how is everybody?"
"Hmmmph?" Ranma asked around a mouthful of noodles.
"You know, Kasumi-san, Tendo-ojisan...Ukyou?"
"Ukyou? We just saw her a few minutes ago."
"So? I asked you a question!"
"She's fine. Why?"
"Oh...n-no r-reason," Ryoga replied, suddenly very interested
in his food. "S-so, has she...s-said anything a-about...oh, you
know...m-me?"
"Ukyou? Talk about you?" Ranma-chan asked, surprised. She
paused to ponder for a few moments. "Hm...actually I think I
remember something about, 'I wonder where he is,' and 'I really
miss him.'"
"Really?" Ryoga replied, his heart thumping wildly. "Ukyou
said that?"
"No."
"No?!"
"No, Akane did."
"Akane said that? A-about me?" he asked, despair and hope
again warring inside him.
"About you."
"About me?"
"Or was she talking about P-chan?" Ranma-chan shrugged and
laughed. "It's so easy to get the two of you confused."
The hope and despair warring inside Ryoga declared a truce and
let anger take the stage. Before the proper amount of justice
could be delivered to Saotome however, a hand reached in through
the overhanging sign and grabbed the braid of the laughing girl.
Tugged sharply, the red-head's torso was yanked back while her legs
caught on the bench and kept her butt seated. A dark face loomed
over the girl threateningly.
"Saotome!" Mousse growled, holding her braid tightly in his
fist. "Finally, this time I've found you!"
Caught unprepared, Ranma looked into the face above her and
tried to ready herself as much as her present posture would allow.
"Mousse! W-what do you want?!"
"Something I've needed to do for awhile now!" came the fervour
filled reply. Pulling sharply, he slammed the back of Ranma's head
into the ground.
"Ojisan! One order of yakisoba!" Mousse called out, planting
his foot firmly in Ranma's face to help him step over the bench.
He sat down and rubbed his hands in anticipation as the food was
prepared. Glancing over at Ryoga he shrugged casually. "I've been
so busy hunting Saotome that I forgot to eat for a few days."
"I know the feeling," Ryoga replied, nodding sagely. After a
moment, a rather angry red-head levered herself back into a seating
position.
"You wanna fight?" she demanded.
"Later," Mousse replied, digging in. "Looking for you is
hungry work. Especially when I keep grabbing the wrong guys."
Ryoga shrugged. "Just do what I do; find the nearest twit
with a pig-tail who's surrounded by girls."
"I tried that," Mousse replied, slurping his food. "But
picked the wrong guy. What that green haired girl and the one with
the long purple pony tails did to me afterwards was rather painful.
Then two wooden water heaters tossed me away as the girls started
to argue over him." He shivered. "Man, I pity that guy."
* * *
Despite the friendly conversation at the restaurant, Ukyou
found that she couldn't relax. Partially because she could never
trust food she hadn't made herself, but mostly she felt uneasy with
Akane present. There was so much she wanted to say, but couldn't
get the nerve to even try. They'd been rivals for nearly as long
as they'd known each other, and friends for about as long. As much
as Ukyou needed a friend right now, rivalry and embarrassment kept
her from saying what she really wanted to.
"So, I don't suppose you've seen R-Ryoga recently have you?"
Ukyou asked instead, anxiously studying the pattern her noodles
made in the bowl.
"Ryoga-kun?" Akane replied, thinking for a moment. "No, I
haven't seen him since he came to Furinkan looking for you. What
was that all about anyway?"
"Oh, uh...he...ah...wanted to get some food from me for one of
his trips."
Akane sighed. "It's really too bad he's away so often. I
really miss having him around, and I think Ranma does too, although
he'd never admit it."
Ukyou swallowed a bunch of noodles, gathering her courage.
Carefully keeping her voice neutral, she asked, "So...Akane...tell
me, what to you...think of Ryoga anyway?"
"Eh?"
"Well...do you...uh...I'd really like to know
if...you...uh..." Ukyou found herself getting flustered as she
spoke; that only made her feel more awkward, and further scattered
her rapidly fleeting thoughts. This was her chance to sort out the
confusing melee of emotions that thundered through her. A way for
her to ask the questions that were screaming to be answered. If
she could just force it out, then maybe things would fall into
place. She had to at least try.
"I mean...well...when all's said and done...I really want to
know if...if..." A hot flush of courage shot through her and she
forced out, "D-do you think he's got a nice butt?"
OK, not quite what she'd wanted to say, but at least it was a
start.
Akane blinked at the question. "Gee, Ukyou," she said after a
moment. "I really don't know. Ryoga-kun's such a good friend...I
guess I never thought about it." She shrugged. "I suppose so, him
working out so much and all. Why you ask?"
"Oh, no reason," Ukyou replied cheerfully. "No reason at all.
Absolutely none. A perfectly innocent question about a friend. A
friend who just happens to be a boy. Not that it's important that
he's a boy. I mean, asking about a friend, who just happens to be
a boy, is a perfectly normal thing. You know, girls talking about
boys. Not that the fact they're asking about a boy is at all
important. It's normal for girls to talk about their
friends...especially friends who happen to be boys. Not that the
friend they're talking about is a boy has any importance. Why do
you ask?" she finished, still chipper.
Too chipper Akane thought suspiciously; she had to be up to
something.
<Probably trying to see if she can hook Ryoga-kun and me up
again.> Akane shook her head slightly. <Poor Ryoga-kun. If only
he had a girlfriend she wouldn't be able to use him like this. Who
knows what would happen if she got her way with him?>
"So," Ukyou continued, "...w-what do you think of R-Ryoga
anyway?"
Despite the suspect nature of the conversation, Akane didn't
want to lie. "Well...Ryoga-kun's a really nice guy. Someone you
can really count on, definitely the most reliable guy I know. He's
so kind," Akane continued, totally missing the small, rather
violent twitch that spiked through her companion. "And he's always
bringing souvenirs from his trips; you don't find many guys who are
that considerate, don't you think?"
"Quite," Ukyou replied in a strained tone of voice.
"He loves pets, and he's so gentle with them that it's
remarkable to see. He really listens to me when I try and talk to
him...unlike someone else I could mention. He's shy, but it's so
cute on him," Akane continued, unaware of the blood vessels
pulsating on Ukyou's forehead. "He's sweet and gentle most of the
time, but so strong when he's helping others. He's a really great
guy; I so look forwards to the times we spend together."
"Well, you can't have him!" Ukyou shouted as she sprang from
her seat, anger blazing forth from her in rolling waves.
There was dead silence in the restaurant. The waitresses,
patrons, and Akane all stared up at Ukyou in stunned amazement.
Slow realization of what she'd done threw a bucket of ice water
over her anger, and there was another long stretch of very
embarrassed silence. Then Ukyou pivoted on her heel to face
another table and shook her finger at the high school students
gapping at her there.
"Like I said," she continued in a voice that wavered only
slightly. "You can't have gin...You're too young to be drinking."
With economy of movement and expression, Ukyou turned back and
sat down. It took a few moments more, but conversation in the
establishment eventually resumed.
Doing her best to keep from turning red, Ukyou attacked her
food viciously. <Where the hell did that come from?> she demanded
from herself.
Tentatively, Akane got her voice back. "Umm...Ukyou...?"
"Yeah, I guess that pretty much describes Ryoga," the
long-haired girl said, drowning out her friend. "Got all the bases
covered, didn't we? Nothing more to discuss on that subject.
We've pretty much said all there needs to be said about Ryoga,
don't you agree?" Akane started to reply. "Of course you agree,"
Ukyou continued. "We're finished on him. Time to move on to
something else." She nodded with conviction and took a drink of
water.
Putting the glass down, Ukyou looked over at her friend. "Do
you have any idea where he is right now?"
Any reply of Akane was cut off as the wall opposite the entry
door was suddenly blown away. Through the smoke and rubble, the
purple-haired poster child for home demolition strolled in.
Ignoring the other shocked patrons, Shampoo bounced up to the two
martial artists and smiled down at them. "Nihao violent girl;
nihao spatula girl. Where Ranma?"
"What do you want with him?" Akane asked archly.
"Is obvious, no?" Shampoo replied, sitting down. She sniffed
at the food for a second, then turned her nose up. "Shampoo only
true woman for Ranma. And soon Ranma see that."
"I don't think that's too likely," Akane retorted, vexed.
Shampoo faced her rival and smirked. "Oh, Shampoo whole new
woman now. Anytime Akane want rematch, Shampoo ready."
Ukyou glared at the Chinese girl, her own anger instinctively
rising. How dare she say such things to her friend. How dare she
say such things about her Ran-chan. And how dare they leave her
out of it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Akane turning
red as well; odd that Akane seemed more embarrassed than angry.
"Sh-Sh-Shampoo," Akane stuttered. "T-there's no reason to-"
"Ha! Shampoo know Akane scared of rematch!"
"I'm not scared!" Akane returned. "I won that fight! I...I
just don't see what a-another round would prove."
"What's this all about anyway?" Ukyou demanded, still annoyed
that they seemed to be ignoring her. "You guys get into some fight
over Ran-chan?"
"Well-" Akane hemmed.
"Of course," Shampoo cut her off. "Shampoo willing to do
anything for Ranma."
"Well, don't think you can cut me out of something like this!"
Ukyou snarled, defiance rising instinctively. "If you guys have a
rematch, I want in!"
Despite her anger, Ukyou did wonder why Akane looked horrified
and even Shampoo seemed a little put out by her declaration. There
was a long moment of silence before Shampoo warily asked,
"So...spatula girl want to...join in?"
"NO!" Akane shouted sharply. After a moment she calmed down
and cleared her throat slightly. "We're not going to fight over
this Shampoo. Ukyou. It's really not all that important."
Shampoo pursed her lips, then nodded. "Akane right. After
all, Shampoo much, much more want to do it with Ranma."
Ukyou looked confused while Akane flushed red and stuttered,
"Y-yeah, I-I g-guess you'd rather g-get into a w-wrestling match
with R-Ranma." <I know I would.>
Despite turning her nose up earlier, Shampoo now snagged a
spring roll. "So, what girls talk about?"
"Girl talk," Ukyou replied. "We were just comparing Ryoga's
butt."
Shampoo seemed to think for a moment. "Hmm, butt not too
bad."
Ukyou looked surprised. "Shampoo...I thought you only had
eyes for Ran-chan."
The Chinese girl waved her hand breezily. "Ranma only man for
Shampoo by Amazon law, but no law stop Shampoo from looking."
"Why you little devil you," Ukyou smirked. "So, what do you
think of Mousse?"
"Mousse?" said Shampoo, surprised. Blinking for a moment, she
munched her spring roll thoughtfully then shrugged. "Him not bad.
No Ranma, but good physique. Best from the village. Nice eyes
too."
"That it?" Akane asked.
"Well...him got other nice parts as well." She blinked as the
other two girls squealed. "What?"
"It's just that we'd never have expected you to say something
like that about Mousse," Ukyou noted.
"Just because Mousse idiot no reason not to admire body,"
Shampoo stated, seeming a little defensive.
Akane gave her a smug smile. "Sounds like you're getting soft
on him." Ukyou nodded as well.
"Never!" Shampoo snarled. "Give one reason why Shampoo give
Mousse time of day!"
"'Cause he's got it bad for you sugar," Ukyou replied. "And
any girl knows that the best guys are the ones who are putty in
your hands."
Shampoo looked confused. "Who want that? Men best when they
stay firm."
"I'm sorry," a waitress said, upon seeing Akane and Ukyou's
suddenly red faces. "Are things too hot for you?"

* * *
A little later, two guys and a busty red-headed were wandering
along an empty street, heading home. The boy with the bandanna
glared over at his female companion. "Just remember you owe me!"
Ranma-chan turned to Ryoga and gave him a shimmering-eyed look
of pure feminine vulnerability. "Ryoga-kun," she said with just
the right waver in her 'cute-enough-to-kill' voice. "Do you really
expect a girl to pay her own way?"
"Shut up you perverted freak!" Ryoga shouted, lunging at the
small girl who danced out of his way. "How come I had to pay for
your meal!?"
Ranma-chan shrugged as she dodged around his strikes.
"Oyaji's a tightwad when it comes to my allowance. Besides, you
don't know what it's like to live under the same roof as Nabiki."
Mousse shook his head. "You're so pathetic, Saotome. Imagine
letting a woman control you like that."
Ryoga launched a backwards kick at Mousse's head which was
barely avoided. "And what about you?! You've got a job, how come
I had to pay your bill as well!?"
"Hey! You think the old ghoul actually pays me for working at
the Nekohanten? I do it
just for the pleasure of being near Shampoo!"
"And that's not pathetic?!"
"It's devotion! There's a difference!"
"In a pig's eye!"
"Who are you calling a pig!?"
Conversation pretty much went downhill after that point.
Ryoga launched furious attacks at the red-head, trying to bring his
great strength into play. Ranma stayed out of reach however, and
Ryoga was unable to do much more with Mousse throwing weapons into
the fray indiscriminately.
Ranma-chan twisted around the chains and closed on Mousse,
only to be driven back when Ryoga snapped out a series of kicks
towards her head. For his actions Ryoga got wrapped up in one of
Mousse's chains, then yanked off his feet when Mousse pulled back.
Crashing to the ground caused Ryoga to grunt momentarily, but he
reached out to grab the chain that bound him. Putting his strength
behind the manoeuvre he tugged on the chain, the sudden resistance
pulling Mousse off balance.
Ranma-chan closed on the recovering Mousse and let loose a
blizzard of strikes, driving him back as he struggled to form a
defence. Untangling from the chain, Ryoga flipped onto his front,
coiled his legs beneath himself and sprang at Ranma's back. Aimed
low, he stretched out to entangle the red-head's legs, negate her
speed advantage and allow him to-
"Nihao Ranma!" came a bubbly, cheerful voice. Shampoo happily
jumped in on Ryoga's head, driving it down into the concrete,
before leaping the remaining distance to entangle the red-head in a
manner entirely different, yet far more effective than what Ryoga
had envisioned.
"Gah! Shampoo, get offa me!" Ranma-chan shouted, twisting,
trying to shake her loose and failing miserably. Glaring, she
tried to pry the snuggling Chinese girl off, her concentration
shattered. An enraged Mousse screamed at the sight before him and
heedlessly threw himself at his hated rival. Struggling to unlatch
Shampoo, Ranma-chan never saw the attack coming.
Thus, Akane's elbow nailed Ranma dead in the nose. "And just
what do you two *girls* think you're doing in public?" she asked
acidly as Shampoo casually pulled her foot from Mousse's face,
letting him slide limply to the ground from his aborted attack.
Shampoo bounced out of Ranma's grip as the red-head staggered from
the force of Akane's blow.
"What'd you do that for?" Ranma-chan demanded.
"Have you no shame?" Akane returned. "Do you have any idea
what you two look like doing that in public?"
"Look like husband and wife!" Shampoo supplied happily.
"I don't see anyone who could be considered a husband," Akane
snapped.
"Look in the mirror," Ranma countered. "With a figure like
your's I can understand someone mistaking you for a guy!"
"What did you say!?"
Spitting out chunks of concrete, Ryoga pulled his face from
the ground. Seething, he rose to his feet, unaware the mood had
shifted from indiscriminate to a more personalized and private kind
of violence. Taking a step forward, his vision narrowed in a red
haze to encompass only the form of Ranma before him. Fury
consuming his every thought, he gathered his rage together, ready
to-
"R-Ryoga?"
The soft voice from behind froze his advance. The fire of
battle fled into the night as an icy claw drove into his chest.
Heart thumping wildly, his eyes widened and the red mist vanished.
Trembling, he slowly turned around to face...
"U-Ukyou."
Head tilted back slightly, she gazed up at him. Green eyes
wide and shimmering, she stared into his brown irises, feeling her
heart pound in her chest. The ground beneath Ryoga suddenly felt
insubstantial, unable to bear the weight of his thundering
emotions. He stared back, wanting to say something but finding his
throat drier then the deserts he'd been lost in. Ukyou too found
herself at a loss, her voice spirited away and left grasping at
words that made no sense. Chirping cicadas provided the only sound
they heard.
As much as he wanted too, Ryoga couldn't lose himself in the
beauty of her eyes or the lines of her face; the pressure weighting
on his soul wouldn't let him. He knew something had to be done,
had to be said. Although it could only destroy the perfect moment,
words must pass between them. Struggling against the toughest foe
he'd ever faced, Ryoga opened his mouth and felt his heart rushing
up to animate his tongue.
"Just...listen to me. Please. I want you to understand, that
no matter how confused things get sometimes, that I am always here.
And I know that deep down, you truly understand what it is I'm
going through."
The speech was beautiful, honest, and no true heart could have
stood against it...if only it had been delivered to the right girl.
Ryoga and Ukyou looked down with shattered expressions as Mousse,
kneeling by Ukyou's feet, stared up at her with beautiful,
shimmering eyes that expressed a love pure and true.
"I want you to just listen to me, Shampoo. I will forever
stand before you as the only one you need to count on. As for you,
you should know you make me feel joy every time you are around-"
A well aimed bonbori flashed by and caved the side of Mousse's
head in. Furious, the owner of the weapon shouted, "Shampoo over
here!"
Mousse painfully rose to his feet and put his glasses on.
Blinking he looked at the slightly trembling Ukyou, then sprang
towards Shampoo. "Please my darling, listen to-"
He never finished as Shampoo picked him out of the air and
proceeded to thrash him royally. "Mousse have something to say to
Shampoo, then say it to her!" she shouted as she beat him into the
dust. Watching the fury that animated Shampoo, Akane couldn't keep
a frown of thought from forming.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say Shampoo was a little
jealous."
Ranma snorted. "Shampoo's not jealous. You want to see
jealous, take a look at yourself." Akane spun to face the busty
girl.
"I am not jealous!"
A cute red-head clinging to the arm of an attractive blond
walked by just then. The girl's gaze flashed unceasingly from
person to person. "Yuu," she said nervously to her companion, "why
is that girl watching you? Yuu, isn't that girl walking a little
too close to you? Yuu, are those girls talking about you? Yuu,
see that man looking at you? Ahh! You're both too beautiful!
You're going to leave me for him, won't you?! Yuu, answer me!"
Akane turned back to face Ranma. "That's jealous."
Ranma snorted something dismissive. Instead of dignifying a
reply, she turned to face her two friends who hadn't done anything
for the last little while except examine the ground intently. "Hey
Ukyou, we're heading off," she said. "You wanna catch the next
train home with us?"
The long-haired girl blinked, looking up nervously.
"Um...ah...no thanks, Ran-chan. I...I can find my own way home."
"S-same here," Ryoga replied.
"Yeah, right."
"Shampoo go with Ranma!" the Chinese girl injected happily,
snuggling up against Ranma's shoulder in a suggestive manner.
Akane gave the Amazon a look that would have made ten thousand
paper-cuts seem like a pleasant diversion, and an even worse one to
her fiance. "Don't you think you'd better take Mousse home?" she
asked through clenched teeth. Shampoo glanced down and seemed
surprised to note that she was lugging the unconscious boy over her
shoulder. Her brows furrowed for a moment in thought, then she
sighed.
"Shampoo guess Akane right." She noticed the looks she was
getting and quickly added, "no get any work done if Mousse left in
alley." Still frowning down at the unconscious boy, she walked
over to her bike and dumped Mousse in the front basket. With a
screech of tires she petalled off, not even bothering to wave to
Ranma as she left.
Shrugging, Ranma motioned to Akane while she waved to Ukyou.
Ukyou smiled a bright and cheerful smile back as Ryoga did likewise
to Akane. As the two wandered off towards home, they started to
get into some kind of argument.
The girls vanished from sight long before their voices were
silenced by other sounds of the evening. Alone with Ukyou, Ryoga's
smile fell and nervousness returned full force. <OK,> he thought
as he slowly turned to face her, his face feeling hot. <Take it
easily and everything will turn out just->
"And just where the hell where you?!" Ukyou demanded, glaring
at him.
<...rotten.>
"What do you mean?" he asked defensively.
"You've been gone for weeks! I told you to wait for me by the
trees behind the school, but when I got there, you'd left! At
first I thought you'd gone to my place, but you never showed up
their either!"
"Hey!" he snapped back, annoyed at her tone. "Who are you to
talk? I waited by the trees for days without leaving! It was you
that never showed up!"
"What? How dare you say that!"
"Well it's true!" he shouted, rooting through his backpack.
"I've got proof! I had someone take my picture by the trees to
show I was there!" Pulling out a snapshot, he thrust it in her
face.
Ukyou stared at the picture presented before her; after a long
moment she closed her eyes. Probably thinking of an apology he
thought smugly.
"Ryoga, just how many giant redwoods do you think there are in
Japan anyway?"
There was a long pause. Ryoga turned the picture around and
looked at it again. Slowly, his face turned a little red. Ukyou
took several deep breaths, a tense expression clouding her face.
"Ryoga-" she began through clenched teeth.
"Wait," he interrupted. "L-let me say something first."
Gradually the tension bled from her face and she looked back up at
him.
"Uh..look, U-Ukyou," he began, finding his throat seizing up
painfully. "I...I have to...I have to tell you something." Like
him, she looked uneasy as he started to speak. "Um...I...I want to
say...that...there's something...about me...that I just have to
tell you." He struggled for words, his stomach rolling uneasy as
she watched him, concerned.
"Ukyou," he struggled. "This isn't easy for me to say...but
I...I'm..."
She started at him closely, her eyes widening a little as she
realized how much this effort was costing him. Not quite knowing
why, she felt an icy claw clutch at her chest.
"I'm...I'm...Ukyou, I'm..."
"Gay?" she supplied helpfully.
Ryoga collapsed as if stabbed through the heart with an
I-beam. After a second of painful twitching, he leapt back to his
feet and towered over her threateningly. "I am not gay!"
"You're not?"
"NO!"
"Whew! For a moment there you really had me wondering."
"How could you think *I* was gay!?" he shouted.
"Well what was I suppose to think!?" she screamed back,
angered by his tone. "What else could make you that nervous?"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" he shouted, swinging his
arm wide for emphasis. Nose to nose with her, he struggled to
control his anger, the pounding of his blood echoing in his ears
like the tearing of metal.
<Tearing of metal?> his brain asked. <That can't be right.
It sounds more like-> With extreme reluctance, he slowly shifted
his eyes over to the right and saw his extended fist embedded in
the spout of a garden facet. Through the newly made crack in the
pipe, he could just feel the water starting to spill out over his
knuckles.
It was cold, but nowhere near as cold as the Arctic blast that
struck at his heart.
Ukyou shrieked in surprise, taking a step back as the water
instantly soaked through her clothes. Averting her gaze from the
gushing fountain, she leaned over and kicked at the broken pipe
till it faced away, spraying harmlessly against a wall. Shivering,
she snapped her arms to shake loose at least some water. "Damn!"
she muttered, brushing her damp hair back and turning to face Ryoga
once again. "Anyway, you were saying-"
He wasn't there. Instead, she saw a pile of his drenched
clothes and backpack laying in the street where he'd been standing.
She blinked, confused. She'd kind of expected him to run rather
than actually have the guts to say what was troubling him, but how
the heck had he gotten away so quickly? Twisting her head she
looked all around, her gaze finally returning to the pile of
clothes. His flight was nothing new, but as to why he was fleeing
in the nude...? Perplexed, she knelt down and reached for his
things.
The mound of clothing suddenly twitched and Ukyou snatched her
hands away. Staring, she watched as a small lump wormed its way
through the pile till it reached an opening, then pause. Confused,
she slowly reached a hand over and lifted the edge of Ryoga's shirt
to reveal a drenched and miserable-
"P-chan?" she whispered. The small black pig was trembling,
then took a big swallow and turned to face her with an expression
of innocence pure as the driven snow.
The girl and the pig stared at each other for a long, silent
moment. Then, very softly Ukyou breathed, "Ryoga."
P-chan's face collapsed. He staggered back on his hooves
shaking his head wildly. Ukyou just stared at him, her face blank
and stunned. Tears appeared in P-chan's gigantic eyes, and he
suddenly fled from her, bweeing something miserable. Ukyou just
sat there, her mind spinning, struggling to come to grips with what
she'd just discovered.
He was a pig.
He was running away.
He was P-chan.
And he was running away.
The guy she'd...well...you know...with, was a pig.
Who was running away.
He's got a Jhusenkyou curse.
He's running away.
It turns him into a pig.
We've already agreed on that. Right now, we really should do
something.
About him being a pig?
No, the running away part.
Blinking suddenly, she looked up to see
P-...er...Ryoga...streaking away for her, trailing tears behind
him. For a moment longer she was still, just watching him flee.
Then a hot rush of emotion shot through her and she snatched up his
stuff and bolted after him.
"Get back here!" she screamed. Up ahead, Ryoga heard her
voice through his shattered heart and shame flooded through him.
He couldn't just leave; he had to do something. <Take it like a
man,> he told himself. Slowing, he came to a halt and braced
himself to face her, no matter the cost. <I mustn't run away, I
mustn't run away.> Turning, he raised his snout and remorsefully
looked up as she approached, watching her feet pound the pavement
with a vengeance as she closed. Seeing her beautiful, rage
contorted face gleaming furiously by the glow of the street lights,
and the large, gleaming spatula come out and be held with feverous
intensity-
<I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't-...Aw screw
it. Run.>
"Come on Akane, tell me what's in the bag."
"Stop whining Ranma! I'll show you later, if you're good."
"But I want to see now!"
Akane turned to say something, but her reply was cut off as a
small black object, bweeing like a jet engine, suddenly appeared
behind them. In less time than it took to blink, the black streak
had closed the distance and crashed full speed into one of Ranma's
legs. The force of the impact threw the red-head's legs into the
air and her to the ground, but didn't appear to have any effect on
the black blur, which continued on its way without slowing in the
slightest.
"Ranma!" Akane called, turning towards her. "Wasn't that-"
Akane's words were cut off as a larger blur shot past, missing
her by a few millimetres. It followed in the path of the black
streak, but any identification was impossible as the ensuing
windstorm kept Akane busy holding her skirt down.
"What the-" Ranma blinked as a several articles of clothing
fluttered slowly in the wind tunnel created by the speeding
figures. Once her modesty was safe, Akane reached out and snagged
a yellowish-brown bandanna.
Getting to her feet, Ranma looked at the bandanna with a
frown. Glaring in the direction of the departed figures, she
growled, "Kuso...What the hell does Ryoga think he's doing anyway?"

"Ryoga?" Akane asked, looking at the bandanna with a puzzled
expression. She too glanced in the direction of the vanished
figures. <But I could have sworn that first blur was...was...>
Having released some of his clothing, Ukyou found she gained
just enough speed to overtake her victim. Putting on another burst
of speed, she blew past some stunned couple and took the corner
sharply, finally getting close enough. Leaping high, she brought
her combat spatula down flat on him, screaming, "Damn it, I just
want to talk!"
After a second of just standing there her shoulders heaving
with effort, she slowly peeled her spatula off. A stunned,
battered pig pulled itself from the nice impression it had made in
the concrete and made a weak attempt to stagger off.
Ukyou repeatedly brought a four-foot stone tanuki statue down
on the pig until it stopped moving. It only took about a dozen
hits.

* * *
Slowly, consciousness returned to Ryoga, and along with it the
memory of what had just occurred. Groaning, he placed a hand over
his eyes. His deepest, darkest secret on display before the woman
he had vowed to explain everything to.
Well, he planned to tell her eventually. These things took
time.
Instead, she had to find out in such a shameful manner. He
was not given the chance to redeem his tarnished honour by having
her hear it from his own lips. No doubt she would hate him for not
telling her. His whole life was a deep, dark pit of his own
making.
"Why is this happening to me!?" he raged at the world.
Then he stopped.
He'd spoken those words, not oinked them. Opening his eyes he
saw that he was human once again. Surprised, he sat up and looked
around. Warm, clean sheets fell from his chest as he sat up in
bed. Stars gleamed in through an open window, and the walls of the
bedroom were lined with shelves. Each shelf was heavily laden with
travel souvenirs from all corners of Japan, and in many cases, the
world.
Stunned, he barely noticed his backpack lying beside the bed.
This was his room; that meant he was home. How'd he gotten here?
"Ryoga? You awake?" The door opened a bit and an attractive
head peaked in.
"Ukyou? W-what are we doing in my house?"
"I brought you here," she said, opening the door and walking
inside. Instead of her cooking uniform he saw she was now wearing
one of his faded undershirts, and near as he could tell not much
else. The neck hole was large and uncentered enough to give a peek
of her bare right shoulder, while the loose hem of the shirt barely
reached past her hips, leaving shapely limbs uncovered. The shirt
was just large enough to hint at her figure with a relaxed kind of
hug.
He blinked a few times, his attention still on her as
Shirokuro and the puppies followed Ukyou into the room and mobbed
their master. She noticed his gaze and picked at the shirt
nervously. "Uh, my clothes were wet, so I kinda borrowed some of
yours. It's OK, isn't it?"
"Huh," he replied, absently petting the frisky dogs. "Oh,
yeah, sure. How...How'd you know where I live?"
She shrugged and sat down on the bed. As Shirokuro lay down
by her master, the puppies yapped to each other and seemed quite
content to roam from one human to the other. "I found your wallet
in your backpack. It had your address in it."
"It does?" he asked, stunned. "Wow. Who'd have guessed?"
She gave him an evil eye, but found that a puppy licking your palm
did wonders to ease stress.
Clearing her throat she got to her feet, holding the puppy to
her chest. "Uh, Ryoga...I...I'd...Do you want to come to the
kitchen? I've got some tea heating up," she finished, chickening
out.
"Uh, s-sure," he replied, tossing the covers back and standing
up.
"You might want to put some clothes on first," She stated,
pointedly turning on her heel and walking out of the room, the dogs
following.
Ryoga blushed and grabbed for his clothes drawer. A few
moments later he found the door and descended the stairs.
Shirokuro trotted out and barked at him before he could head out
the front door. Sheepishly he turned and followed the dog into the
kitchen.
Inside, Ukyou had disarmed the burglar traps without mishap
and had two steaming cups of tea ready. Sweeping her long hair
back, she sat down and pulled her shirt lower, tugging it a little
tight over her chest. Gingerly Ryoga sat as well, grabbing his tea
and chugging it down. The dogs wandered around the two humans,
thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"Another cup?" Ukyou asked. He nodded and she got up to walk
over to the stove. Fidgeting for a moment, he couldn't help but
follow her bare legs and waving hair with his eyes. Why was she
here? Why hadn't she left him when she found out about-
She turned back with his cup and the kettle, and he suddenly
found the puppy attacking his toes to be very interesting. Ukyou
sat down again, handing him his full cup. As he gulped it down,
she sipped at hers. A few moments past silently, then she looked
up at him.
"So, uh...nice place you got here sugar."
"Yeah, um...thanks. I really don't get to be here as often as
I'd like to."
"Too bad, it's...ah...a nice place...and you must miss your
dogs."
They were both silent for a few more moments.
"I should've made the tea...it is my place after all."
"Don't worry about it," she replied, shaking her head. "I
enjoy working with food. It...helps me think." When she fell
silent, Ryoga struggled for something to say. Small talk with
girls was not something he had much practice with, and his
inability severed to come crashing down on him. Talk about
something safe, he realized, but what? Weather? Sports? The
constitutional crisis in Canada? The real meaning behind 'My Pure
Heart For You?'
Finally, timidly, Ukyou looked up at him. "Uh...Ryoga, I
think we should talk."
"Uh...yeah," he replied, unknowingly crushing his cup into
shards. "I...I'm sorry...I...I really wanted to tell you
about...about..."
"P-chan?" she finished for him. He nodded miserably, taking a
sip from his shattered cup.
"I should have told you, but I...I try to keep it a secret."
"I guess I can understand that," Ukyou sighed. "It's not
exactly something you would share with people. Sort of explains
why Ran-chan keeps picking on you though. I take it he's never
told Akane-chan?"
Ryoga shifted uncomfortably. "No, despite the fact that he's
a bastard, he's never told her. I guess it's his one redeeming
feature. To her I'm her pet and confidant, the one person she can
trust no matter what happens."
"But can she trust you? After all, you are lying to her."
"I know! I know!" Ryoga wailed, putting his head into his
hands. "I've tried so often to tell her that I love her! Once I
do that, I'm sure I can explain about my curse! I just need to say
that I love her!"
Ukyou carefully kept her eyes on the cup clenched tightly in
her hands, holding her lower lip between her teeth. Finally she
swallowed and quietly asked, "D-do you love her?"
Ryoga paused, looking up at her in surprise, realizing what
he'd just said. For a long moment he stared at her, his expression
alarmed. Then he deflated and looked at the shattered remains of
his own cup miserably.
"Still?" she asked in a small voice.
Ryoga gazed down hard at the steaming liquid.
"I...I guess I can understand," Ukyou replied. "It's not easy
to give up on someone you love, is it? It seems like you're
betraying your feelings for them. As if what you felt was not as
strong as you thought it was. And if it wasn't, how could you
claim to have loved them in the first place?"
The two were silent for a time, not hearing the sounds of the
puppies. Finally Ryoga looked up at her beautiful face, his eyes
forlorn through his bangs. "You l-love Ranma." It was a
statement, not a question.
Almost invisibly she nodded, her hair shining from the bright
kitchen lights. "I hated him for so long...and then when I found
him he changed my world completely around. I...I could be a girl
again, I could recover a part of myself that I hadn't dreamt still
remained. It was a shock, a blow to my mind. Being allowed to
*feel* like that again...it was a precious gift he gave me, and I
can't but love him for allowing me that opportunity again."
Ryoga's gaze fell from her features, dragging his heart along
with it. "I...I...Akane was the first person to be nice to me both
as a person and as a pig. She treats me like a friend, a good
friend. No matter how hectic her life is at any moment, she always
spares time to say something sweet to me. She's the first girl
who's ever been really nice to me, and not made fun of my problems.
For someone as beautiful and popular as her to treat me like a
human being..." He shook his head sadly. "Maybe I'm no different
from all the other guys who mob her, but I'd like to think I can
offer her more...could offer her more if only she'd notice."
Silently Ukyou refilled their cups. Both took another drink
then continued to stare down at the table top. Ryoga fidgeted for
a moment, searching for something to say. "A...about what...what
happened-"
Before he could continue she reached over and grasped one of
his hands tightly. He looked up and saw she was blushing. He also
flushed as they both looked suddenly away. "Ryoga...don't say
anything. It...just kinda happened, ya know? A spur of the moment
thing. I mean, it was the situation we were in, right? I mean,
we'd never do something like that...if we knew what we were
doing...would we?"
"I guess not," he agreed, feeling his heart ice over again.
Indecision and confusion transmuted into depression as yet another
aspect of his world turned bleak. Not that he hadn't expected
this, but to actually be confronted with the fact was a dark blow
indeed. The small spark of hope that had existed within his breast
was cruelly snuffed out.
"Admit it, we're both in love with other people, no matter how
painful that is. And we just have to accept this as the way it's
going to be."
He nodded glumly.
Ukyou sighed heavily, "So be it." There was a silent gulf
between them despite their touching, and the puppies, confused by
the heavy emotions in the air, whined slightly. Ukyou felt the
crushing feeling press down on her as they sat there silently.
Glancing over at him, she noted his head hanging low and the almost
visible gloom that hovered around him like a black aura. Taking a
breath through the weight she felt constricting the air around her
was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.
"R-Ryoga?"
"Yeah?" he replied in a shattered monotone.
"You...you doing anything tomorrow?"
Listlessly he turned to face her, some minute measure of
curiosity working its way up through his psyche, wondering vaguely
what she was getting at.
"If not...want to catch a movie?"
There was a long period of silence before Ryoga's jaw started
to work, but still no sound came out. Bleak depression inside him
churned over into a new type of confusion he was unfamiliar with.
Finally, noises like, "But...we...I...huh..." emerged. Ukyou
smiled thinly.
"I'm asking...if you'd like to go on a date."
"But...we...what..." After a long moment he hauled his jaw
shut and grabbed the scattered remains of his fleeting thoughts.
"D-didn't we just say we were both in love with other people?"
Ukyou nodded. "We did. However..." she said meaningfully as
she began to study the teapot with great enthusiasm. "Well, I love
Ran-chan, and I guess that's not about to change...but if...if
something were to develop for some other guy," she was sure she
could feel his blush all the way through his hand. "Then I guess
it wouldn't be a betrayal, would it? I mean...if I were swept off
my feet by some handsome stranger, it would be his fault rather
than mine that I couldn't be with Ran-chan...right?" She glanced
fleetingly at him. "Know anybody who might be willing to try?"
"B...b..."
"And a cute guy like you...I bet there are lots of girls who'd
be willing to snatch you up at a moment's notice. And if one of
them actually had a hook to hold you down with...well...*I*
certainly wouldn't be the type to just let a guy go."
"W...w..."
"Of course," she continued, "we could rationalize this by
describing it as an attempt on our part to make Ran-chan and Akane
feel jealous. If they're too dense to come to their senses before
something...develops...well, just look at what they'd be missing."
"Y-you mean you think you could-"
She sighed heavily, cutting him off. "I don't know yet.
You're headstrong, kinda pushy, a little thoughtless, totally
directionally impaired, unable to get three words out to a girl,
somewhat crass, a bit wimpish, and you turn into a pig." She
looked him in the eye. "I've seen worse."
"W-What about..."
"P-chan?" Again she sighed. "I admit it's a bit of a
surprise, but not all that bad when you consider it. I'm pretty
sure I could get used to it." A giggle worked it's way to the
surface. "I mean, I've never really had a relationship with a guy
before, so how could I possibly say it's a strike against you.
You've seen the type of guys I seem to attract: Tsubasa, Ran-chan
and all the rest. Hell, it'll just be nice to be around a guy who
has no tendency to dress up like a girl!" She broke out into full
fledged laughter and Ryoga joined in after a moment.
Suddenly she went deadly serious. "You don't dress up like a
girl...do you?"
"NO! Never!" Ryoga shouted. As Ukyou visibly relaxed, Ryoga
fumbled and kept on talking. "Never...except for that one time in
Ryugenzawa...But I had a damn good reason to put on that nurse's
uniform! Including the make-up!"
Ukyou closed her eyes for a moment. <Why is it the only guys
who have anything to do with me have gender *issues* to deal with?>
Before she allowed herself to answer that disturbing question, she
opened her eyes and flashed him a smile.
"Well, what do you say sugar?"
He looked at her for a long moment, gazing at the beautiful
girl before him; who was waiting for his opinion, asking him to
make the decision. Finally, he turned his hand over and gently
clasped her fingers. "B-boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked shyly.
She nodded, her smile easing slightly into a more serious
vein. "Maybe. Given time, who knows?"
"I've...I've never really had one before," Ryoga admitted
shyly. "A girlfriend," he clarified, watching her cock her head at
him. "I most certainly have _never_ had a boyfriend!"
"Lucky you," Ukyou replied, smiling slyly. "I was never too
sure which Tsubasa was trying to be." She got to her feet and
stretched, while Ryoga was busy dealing with depression firmly
becoming a totally new kind of confusion and anxiety. The dogs
began to yap again with the humans' activity, and Ukyou started to
put the cups away.
"I guess my clothes ought to be dry now. Tell ya what sugar:
I'll cook you dinner, then you can walk me home."
Ryoga shuffled uncomfortably at the last comment. "Uh...can I
stay at your place for the night then?"
She glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Surely
you can find your way back home, can't you?"
"I wish. My whole family couldn't find their way back to
here. That's why my parents aren't home."
She shook her head. "Your whole family's like you? How the
hell did your parents ever meet anyway?"
"At a tourist information booth."
Ukyou looked at him hard for a moment, then cocked her head
and smiled at him in a wholly disarming manner. For some reason
that beautiful expression left Ryoga's soul shivering with
trepidation. "Well, let's see if we can't do something about that
direction problem of yours after dinner."
* * *
Akane threw herself through the air, striking hard at her
phantom opponent. A quick double kick flashed out before her feet
came back down to the wooden dojo floor. She took the jar of the
impact on flexed knees and was off again in an instant. With
short, powerful jabs she punched out, the motion jostling loose
beads of sweat from her forehead. A fixed, determined frown on her
face, she advanced in one direction striking towards the far wall.
Reaching the barrier she let loose a final side kick and spun
around on her bare foot to continue back in the direction she'd
come.
Instead she caught a facefull of Ranma, standing less then a
handsbreadth away and sticking his tongue out at her. "Nyaaa!!"
"Eeeeeek!!" Akane screamed as she jumped backwards, her heart
pounding. Ranma took his fingers out of his mouth and laughed
while she stood with her back to the wall and a hand pressed to her
hammering chest.
"Don't do that!" she yelled. She stepped away from the wall
and snapped out a punch which he easily dodged. "If you want to do
something, then let's fight!"
Ranma sidestepped her next several strikes without any
trouble, grinning the whole while. He was just about to start
taunting her when she blew out a defeated breath and stopped.
"Hey, what's the matter? I though you wanted to fight."
"I want to spar," she said in annoyance, picking up a towel
and mopping her forehead. "Not just watch you dodge. You think
that's any way for me to deal with what's on my mind?"
Ranma glanced at her as she sank down by the dojo's door. He
saw her pick up some kind of handkerchief from by her towel.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Just something I've been trying to work out in my head.
Nothing you need to concern your busy mind over," she said, waving
her hand at him in a dismissive manner. Ranma grunted and looked
around the dojo.
"Hey, where's your dad?"
"Same place as your father...Happosai decided they were
getting soft and took them out for some more 'training.'"
"Can't argue about them getting soft, but I wouldn't trust
what that old freak will teach them. And everybody else?"
Akane gently rubbed the piece of cloth in her hands.
"Kasumi-oneechan went out to see some friends, and Nabiki-oneechan
said she was going to go tutor Kuno-sempai."
Ranma snorted. "Man, why she even bother?" He looked around
for a moment, then slowly turned back to stare at his fiancee.
"Sooo...what you're saying is that we're all alone here."
Her mind clearly elsewhere, Akane nodded vaguely. Ranma
nervously rubbed his hands together and took a deep breath as he
looked at her back.
First however, he sprang around to check in all the corners of
the dojo, the attic above, the area beneath the floor, outside the
windows, and everywhere else within sight. Not seeing anyone who
might interrupt them, he cracked his shoulders once and walked up
to Akane. As she looked out through the open dojo door, he knelt
down behind her. Pausing only to take another furtive glance
around, he reached out and delicately wrapped an arm about her
shoulders.
Startled out of her thoughts by his touch, Akane stiffened.
Now even more scared than he'd been a second ago, Ranma almost
snatched his arm back, his mouth already working on an apology in
the vain hope of avoiding pain. Then all of a sudden he felt the
tenseness leave her body. Very slowly she leaned into him, resting
the back of her head in the crook of his neck. He brought his
other arm around and gently embraced her slim waist.
Akane closed her eyes and breathed softly. In her hand, she
still held the small piece of fabric that continued to intrude her
thoughts. Swallowing softly she asked, "Ranma?"
"Hmm?"
"Would it...is it OK if..." Ranma looked puzzled as she
timidly continued. "I mean...I'm not really feeling up to it
tonight."
"Eh?"
"Is it OK if this is all we do?" she continued, a worried,
apprehensive note creeping into her voice.
Ranma blinked, a bit uneasy realizing how anxious she seemed
to be. "Uh...sure thing Akane," he said slowly. What was she
expecting: that he was going to get upset with her? Then as he got
a bit more of his poise back, "I mean, I can understand how
difficult it is for you to hold back your natural desire for me,
but if that's what you want-"
His speech was cut off as she drove her elbow back into his
gut just hard enough to make him grunt. "I'll try and keep myself
under control," Akane remarked, timidness replaced by irritation.
Nonetheless, he could feel her body totally relax in his arms.
Grinning softly he shifted the two of them into a more comfortable
position. As they settled in together, that odd kind of tension
he'd been feeling, that he would not, ever, in any way describe as
performance anxiety, just bled away leaving him feeling very, very
content.
"Your whole world can change quickly, can't it?" Akane asked
quietly, rhetorically, as she ran the coloured piece of cloth
through her fingers. Ranma's only reply was to softly nuzzle her
ear with his nose, taking in the captivating sent of her hair and
sweat. "It's...it's just so hard to believe."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "It does seem strange sometimes...from
fighting all the time to...to doing this."
Akane blinked; that wasn't what she'd been talking about.
Nonetheless, it was an important issue. "And how would you
describe it?" she asked, curious.
Ranma blinked in surprise; he hadn't expected her to ask that.
Thrown off balance, his mind grappled for a way to answer. How was
he to explain what they felt for each other, now that they had
found a way to express it. How could he describe physical intimacy
between two very athletic and...well...acrobatic young people? And
in such terms that wouldn't get him injured?
"It was...well...it's nice."
"Nice?" she uttered, disbelieving. "Is that all you can say?"
"Well, how would you describe...uh...what we're doing?" he
challenged.
Akane huffed and settled herself against him more snugly.
"Beautiful," she said after a moment. Ranma grunted noncommittally
even if he did have to agree with her.
"And wild," she added a second later.
Ranma sputtered. Finally getting his voice, he shook her
gently. "How come you can say things like that and I can't?"
"Because I'm not a pervert," she said fondly, placing one of
her hands over his and turning her head to smile at him.
He grumbled something, unwilling to start an argument when she
looked so cute. Akane nestled back against him while Ranma moved
his hand up from her shoulder to her neck. Gently, he ran his
fingers over her skin in a light, caressing motion. Akane closed
her eyes and a soft, contented murmur rose from her deep in her
throat.
Ranma froze. With great difficulty, he swallowed and forced
out, "A-Akane?"
"Hmm?" she whispered.
"Could you...uh...stop purring. Please?"
* * *
"Left!"
"Right."
*CLANG*
"What'd you do that for?!"
"I said left!"
"I was agreeing with you!"
"You were?"
"YES!"
"Oh, sorry sugar."
"Humph. That's better."
Pause.
*CLANG*
"Now what?!"
"You were going right!"
"I was not!"
"Woof!"
"Who asked you?!"
"Shut up! Here's the keys, now open the damn door!" Keys
were rattled in a lock for a moment, then a door panel slid back to
reveal the shape of Ryoga as he entered Ucchan's. On his heels
Shirokuro and her puppies followed, delighted to have some place
new to explore. Once the lights were on Ukyou appeared, a rather
dark expression on her face and a large dent in her battle spatula
that bore an uncanny resemblance to the back of Ryoga's head.
"Honestly! I didn't realize you were this bad!"
"Hey! I couldn't concentrate with you hitting me every time
we came to a corner!"
"If you hadn't gone in the wrong direction all the time, I
wouldn't have kept hitting you! One would think you'd learn!
Aversion therapy or something like that!"
Still muttering, Ukyou walked past the growling boy and
checked her restaurant. Ryoga tried to calm down and looked around
at the dogs having a wonderful time poking their noses into every
corner they could find.
"Uh, Ukyou?" he asked. "Is it all right to let my dogs in
here? Aren't there health codes or something?"
She shrugged. "Just as long as the place gets a good scrub
down tomorrow, before any customers arrive, it'll be fine."
"Sorry to make extra work for you," he apologized.
"Don't worry sugar," she said, smiling too brightly and giving
him a wink as she headed for the stairs. "It won't be any extra
work for me."
A few minutes later she came back down, now wearing a yukata
instead of her normal cooking uniform. Ryoga had settled the dogs
down and laid some newspaper out. Ukyou came over and petted them
all goodnight, much to the delight of the puppies. Turning the
lights off, she motioned Ryoga to the stairs. Seeing her there,
the lights from the stairwell shining down on her, Ryoga suddenly
felt very nervous. Stiffly he got to his feet and followed her up,
eyes on the sway of her hips through the thin robe. Realizing what
he was doing, he forced his gaze down to the steps, his face red.
By his sides, his hands clenched tight.
On the second floor Ukyou reached the door panel of her room
and turned to face him. "Well, goodnight."
Blankly, Ryoga looked back. "I've laid the stuff out in the
guest room," she continued, pointing to the door down the hall.
For an instant, he didn't know what to say. Then the tension
suddenly fled from him and he smiled in a stupid, relieved manner.
She caught his expression and looked him hard in the eye.
"And just what were you expecting?" she asked archly.
Ryoga turned an impressive colour of red and stumbled back a
step, hands waving before him. "N-nothing! Nothing at all! I
wasn't expecting that...that..."
"Ryoga," she interrupted sternly. "I'm not going to deny
what...happened, but we can't fixate only on that. Not if we're
going to try and make this...work. We're going to have to go slow;
one step at a time. No forcing things along, just take things as
they come. Understand?"
Sheepishly, Ryoga nodded. He rubbed one hand behind his head,
words spilling out. "You're right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have
thought of...well, you know what I'm...I'm sorry, and-"
Ukyou watched the poor boy stumble over what appeared to be an
apology. Doing shallow, rapid bows, he was a pathetic sight of a
once proud man.
"I won't think of that again...I promise. I mean, it's not
like I was really hoping that we'd...NO! I wasn't hoping that
we'd...Not that it wasn't g-...I mean...not that you weren't...I
mean..."
Watching him make a fool out of himself, Ukyou fought back
irritation. Some times the fool was just so bumbling, so pathetic,
so hopelessly indecisive. <Damn, he's cute like that.>
"Oh what the hell," she muttered. Stepping forward she
grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him hard. As Ryoga's
eyes bugged out, she forced her tongue past his slack mouth and
licked over his fangs. She couldn't help herself, they were just
so darn cute. Almost as good as his great buns.
Ryoga stood there totally stunned, his whole body locked solid
yet still managing to tremble slightly. For a long, long moment he
was paralyzed till finally something inside him screamed to just do
-anything!-, and he softened his muscles. Pushing his lips against
hers, he kissed back. His arms were coming up to encircle her slim
frame when she flowed away from him like smoke, breaking the kiss
but still taking his breath away.
Rose highlighting her cheeks, Ukyou opened her door and
slipped into her room. "Goodnight," she whispered just before she
slid it closed all the way, leaving him to gape after her in the
hall. Placing her back against the door, she covered her mouth
with both hands, trying to hold herself together.
She'd done it. She'd stuck to her position and felt a thrill
of accomplishment run through her. It was hard though, she
confessed. It was harder than she'd thought it should have been,
having the thrill face off against the sharp pang of longing. To
hold Ryoga away when something inside her had yearned for him to
act like a man. And when that had shown no signs of happening, <as
if that's a big surprise,> she said to herself, she'd almost taken
the initiative and done something for him.
She walked away from the door and sat down by the window, the
pane swung slightly open into the night. Leaning against the sill,
she rested her head on her arms and stared at her ghostly image
looking back at her from the glass.
Now what was she going to do now? She didn't know the first
thing about relationships, and yet here she had roped Ryoga into
one. She still had those slinky night clothes she'd ordered from
Nabiki in her closet, and a small shiver ran through her system at
the thought of how great she had looked wearing them. If she were
to slip into one there was no way that Ryoga could possibly-
Ukyou shook her head sharply, staring hard at the translucent
image in the window. <No,> she told herself firmly. <What you
want...what you *need* is for this to be a normal relationship. No
fancy plans, no entrapments, no multiple fiancees to compete with,
nothing more then two people seeing if they've got what it takes to
get along together.>
<Of course it's scary,> she told her fears. <How do you even
know what to expect? The only boys that have been interested in
you before were all weirdos and freaks, while the only guy you've
ever had the hots for pretty much treated you as 'one of the guys.'
And look where all your experiences have got you sugar; Ran-chan
hardly even knows you exist as a girl. You still love him,> her
image stated. <But you want more don't you? You want someone
to...to love you back...and he's not likely to do that anytime
soon, is he honey?>
She sighed and refocused her eyes, taking in the city beyond
her reflection. What did she hope Ryoga could give her and what
was it they had they agreed to?
She didn't know.
Maybe she wanted a little of what she could sense around her,
what she saw couples expressing as they waited for their order,
what she knew others in the city were sharing right now. Would it
really be so bad to find something like that for herself? Would it
really be so scary?
She sighed again, drinking in the calm of the night and
letting her eyes drift over the streets and buildings around her
and all the stories they held within them.
Then she paused, looked, and blinked.
A second later she was on her feet and bolting for the door,
kick-ass spatula in hand and a homicidal light shining from her
eyes.
<All right,> she thought to herself, taking the stairs three
at a time. <I'm not into bondage, but if that's what it takes to
keep him in one place, then so be it!>
"And just how did you get by your dogs downstairs?" Ukyou
demanded, marching Ryoga back up the stairs at spatula point.
"Uh...I don't know," he replied, getting clobbered for his
troubles.
"No excuses! How dare you make me chase you around in my
night clothes! You're just damn lucky I stopped you before you
reached the corner. No telling where you could have got yourself
lost."
"You didn't have to flatten me!" he yelled back. "Why didn't
you just shout at me to stop?!"
Ukyou punctuated her reply with a none too gentle whap on the
head. "Are you questioning me you jackass?! You're lucky I didn't
just let you wander off! I've agreed to start seeing you for less
then a day, and already you're more trouble then you could possibly
be worth!"
She followed him into the room and pointed at the futon spread
out on the floor. "Now, walk over to that futon -if you can manage
that!- and stay there! Tomorrow we'll try another way to deal with
that direction missense of your's."
"You're not going try hitting me again, are you?"
"As much as I'd like to, no. I think we've proven that
there's nothing up there to affect."
"I'm not that bad!" he yelled at her. She just slid the door
shut with a *bang*, and he could hear the sounds of her stomping
off to the other room. Then silence descended and Ryoga wondered
what it was about women that set them off so. Finally, after a
long, futile debate over the subject he calmed himself and rubbed
the bruises on the back of his head.
The door suddenly opened again and he turned in surprise.
Ukyou was standing there giving him a look that would have caused
Godzilla to bypass Tokyo, just this once. "Ryoga," she said with
deadly calm, "just who's room do you think you're in?"
He blinked and looked around, only now noticing the dressing
mirror, work desk, chair, and closet full of clothes that marked
this as more than a guest room. Then he turned a glare in her
direction. "Hey, what's this?!"
"It's my room."
He looked annoyed. "First you send me to the guest room, and
now here! Make up your mind would ya?"
Ukyou tossed her spatula away. It was a great weapon, but she
really needed both hands free if she was going to rip out his
spleen.
She crashed into Ryoga and sent them both down to the futon.
Although Ukyou fought with savage fury, and dirty, Ryoga eventually
grabbed hold of her arms and immobilized them in his powerful
grasp. A few minutes of just lying there gave her time to get
herself back under control.
"Jackass," Ukyou said quietly, glaring at him through the
strands of her long hair. Reluctantly he released her and she did
not attack him, only swept the tresses out of her face. She looked
at him for another moment, then blew out a defeated sigh and
grabbed the covers, pulling them up around the two of them.
"Uh..." Ryoga stuttered, going red. "I thought...well, you
said-"
"Listen dope, I've chased you all over the neighbourhood once
tonight, I'm tired, and I don't even trust you enough to walk down
the hall to your room." She gave him a hard gaze. "Just don't get
any funny ideas."
Stuttering, Ryoga nodded and pulled up his part of the covers,
turning away from her. Ukyou did likewise, leaving them staring
out away from the other. They lay there in the silence and
darkness for a long time. Through the open window the sound of a
train passing could faintly be heard before it faded back into the
quiet of the night.
Still awake, Ukyou stared out through the window for far
longer than the duration of her anger. Finally, she marshalled
most of her courage and quietly asked, "Ryoga?"
Something that sounded like a muffled grunt answered her.
She took a soft swallow and timidly said, "...Thanks."
There was more silence for a response, and Ukyou pulled the
covers a little tighter around her shoulders. "I just want you to
know that since...well...you know...I've...I've actually been
pretty happy."
"No," she amended quickly. "Not happy per se...just...I don't
know...busy I guess. And that's what felt so good. What we
did...it broke me out of my routine. Do you realize that for the
past few weeks I haven't been at all annoyed when Ran-chan was busy
doing something. Hell, I've barely noticed him recently. I've got
other things on my mind. It's kind of refreshing to see...well, to
be reminded that I've got a life other than just chasing after my
fiance."
There was more silence between them, then Ukyou turned over
and faced his broad back. "I think maybe I'd forgotten it for a
while. Being reminded that I'm *me* was something I think I
needed." Ryoga shuffled a little as she fell silent again. A few
moments later she leaned in and placed her forehead to the back of
his neck as well as a hand between his shoulders.
"You know, before we had our little talk today, I don't think
I really realized how...how..." Her brows drew together as she
though for a moment, and the silent Ryoga, still facing away,
slightly shuffled again.
"How...lonely I was." Lonely? Had she been lonely?
"Yes...damn it all," she said softly. "I never realized how much I
put into my okonomiyaki and my...pursuit...of Ran-chan. They were
my life. When I met Ran-chan again, I guess I thought I could
replace that hunt with his love, but that just never seemed to
materialize." Unknowingly, she began to gently rub her hand along
his back.
"I guess I never noticed how little being one of his fiancees
filled the void till something came along and slapped me in the
face." The warmth of his skin against her forehead gave her a
soothing feeling. Smiling gently, she took a deep breath.
"Arigato, Ryoga."
He shuffled, still silent.
Curious, and a little annoyed, Ukyou raised her head and
looked at him. "Ryoga, are you awake?" If he was sleeping while
she opened up her heart, first thing tomorrow morning she would
enjoy some Western dish that involved bacon.
A soft nod saved him, but Ukyou frowned as she looked down at
the back of his head, trying to figure out why he was just so darn
quiet.
"Ryoga?"
There was silence.
"You've got a nose-bleed, don't you?" she stated
matter-of-factly.
A choked sob of affirmation was his answer.
Instantly furious, Ukyou reached over and crushed his head
into a sleeper hold. Putting her whole strength behind the
manoeuvre she yanked him close, slamming her mouth to his ear and
shouted, "How the hell can you get a nose-bleed from just lying in
bed with me, you jackass!!? We've already had sex! *Sex* damn
you!"
"I don't know!" Ryoga wailed pathetically, trying to stuff
Kleenex up his nose and seeming to ignore her attempts at
strangulation. "It just started! We got into bed together and it
just started!"
Ukyou swore something she'd learned from male jr. high P.E.
classes and released her hold. Sitting up, she grabbed the tissues
from him and began to clean his face. Still glaring at him, she
muttered, "Oh yeah, you never let me feel lonely."
Ryoga looked up at her, uncertain exactly how to take that
comment. "Really?"
"Yeah, I'm too busy thinking about killing you to ever feel
lonely." She worked silently for a few moments, wiping the last of
the blood of his face. Finished, she looked down at him, shaking
her head slightly. "Yep, you definitely keep me entertained,
sugar. And I guess you're kinda cute too, in a helpless, drenched
puppy dog kinda way." Embarrassed, he glanced around the room
while she stayed there, hovering just above him.
"Ryoga?"
He turned back to face her. "Yeah?"
"That's called fishing for a compliment."
"Oh." Ryoga gulped. "Ah...you're...you're..."
"I'm...?" she pressed, wondering if he could get anything out.
He struggled, his mouth moving but nothing issuing out. She cocked
her head at him. "Ran-chan said I was kawaii," she said, trying to
give him a hint.
"He *what*?!" Ryoga shouted, startling her.
"S-said I was k-kawaii-"
"That bastard!" he growled, cutting her off.
Ukyou blinked, then glared down and grabbed him by the cheeks.
"And just what's so bad about calling me kawaii?"
"Because it's not true!" Ryoga snapped back. There was dead
silence for a moment as Ukyou's brows drew together dangerously.
"And just what do you mean by that?" she asked, her voice
dripping venom.
"It's-" he began, then suddenly stopped.
"It's?" she prompted, glaring.
"...not enough." He finished lamely. Ukyou blinked, her
anger vanishing suddenly.
"Really?" she asked, timidly. Blushing, he tried to say
something several times, finally forcing out, "B-because
you're...b-b-beautiful." Nothing happened for a moment, then a
smile slowly brightened her face.
"Thanks," she said tenderly. "I've never had anyone say that
to me before."
"Well, it's true."
Ukyou's anger at his brash action left without even a memory.
"That's so sweet," she responded. "Needs a little work on the
delivery, but sweet." Leaning down, she lightly kissed his nose.
Ryoga's hands twitched and his face burned red as he felt the
warmth of her lips, but kept himself still. Eyes closed, Ukyou
placed their foreheads together and the two of them stayed there
for a long silent moment, neither moving.
Ryoga's breathing was hard and laboured as he lay there, all
too conscious of her wonderful nearness. Damn, but he wanted to do
something and it was not easy to just lay there and follow her
wishes. But he didn't care how hard it was, he was not going to
mess this up. Slowly, agonizingly, the desire inside him went off
somewhere to sulk and his breathing gradually evened out a little.
He was still all too aware of her presence, but it slowly allowed a
warm feeling to seep through his veins. This, he decided, would be
a really nice way to drift off to sleep. If he could actually calm
down enough to ever close his eyes that is.
It would have been a nice way to get to sleep, except he
started as he realized one of her hands was softly drawing circles
on his chest.
"Uh...U-Ukyou-"
"Shush."
"But-"
"Shhh." The warm breath from the sound played an enticing
tickle along his cheek.
"But you said-"
"Ryoga?"
"Y-yeah?"
"I'm a girl aren't I?"
He paused, not sure what she was getting at.
"I'm a girl aren't I?" she asked again, with a little more
force behind the words.
"Uh...yeah."
"Well...then I can change my mind, can't I?" she asked
quietly. Ryoga blinked. He could feel the heat rising from her
body as it lay against him. The softness of her words caused his
breathing to deepen and all too welcome sensations to come flooding
back. Looking up he saw that her eyes were still closed and her
face serene and gentle. Gingerly he sat up and gasped her by her
shoulders, holding her in a soft embrace as she leaned against him.
His heartbeat began to pound and his body react, he looked at
the girl snuggling in his arms. "Ukyou...this...this isn't going
to make us forget anything."
"I know," she responded in a simple, quiet voice. "But I'm
not doing this to forget...I want...I guess I want something new to
remember. Maybe something better. And like I said, we won't push
things, but just take them as they come. I'm...I'm not pushing
you...am I?" Ryoga placed his nose against her long hair and
breathed her scent in. After a long moment, he closed his eyes and
gently shook his head against her shoulder.
"Then shut up and act like a man," she whispered into his ear,
the hot breath of her words burning him wonderfully.
Silence. "Uh...how do I do that?"
She thumped him lightly on the chest. Something that might
have been a laugh or a muffled scream of outrage escaped her lips.
"Just kiss me you jackass."
Gulping, he ran his tongue over his lips and twisted his head
over, searching for her mouth. For a moment they fumbled, tasting
each other's cheeks and bumping noses, then their lips connected
and Ukyou moaned softly. As he savoured her sweet taste, Ryoga
tightened his embrace around her waist.
Slowly Ukyou raised her hands up his chest and grasped the
sides of his head, pulling him tighter into another kiss as her
tongue reached out and surprised his in its home. Ryoga's chest
heaved as she was pulled close, her soft curves compressing against
him. Slowly he dragged his mouth from hers, pausing at her gentle
tugging bites upon his vacating lips. When she stopped that he
continued moving, tracing her chin and down her neck. Ukyou arched
her head back, presenting her throat towards his lips.
Ryoga moved upon the smooth, white skin, delicately kissing as
she began to tremble ever so slightly. Still holding his head,
Ukyou held onto him as he tenderly explored her vulnerable neck,
his touch sending wonderful shivers running alongside her hot
blood. Rolling her head, she finally pulled his face back up and
brought their mouths together again. This time she taunted his
tongue, coaxing it out to play with her own, each fighting for the
right to enter the other's mouth. Her moans were lost as a deep
based rumble rose from his chest.
Caressing her hands down the sides of his face, she traced
over his neck and onto his thin undershirt. She could feel the
hard muscles that existed underneath it and began to tug at the
shirt impotently. Unable to remove it as they were and with her
mouth otherwise occupied, Ukyou began to whine unhappily.
The sound caused Ryoga to shudder, and filled him with a
desire to do anything she wished. With difficulty he pulled his
lips from hers, eliciting another petulant whine from her, as if
she wanted both yearnings filled this instant. Releasing his grip
from her slim waist Ryoga grabbed his shirt and tried to pull it
over his head, finding that difficult to do with Ukyou snuggling up
against him affectionately and clawing playfully at his arms while
she nipped at his cheeks.
"Hey!" he snapped at the overly affectionate female clingingly
tightly to him. "Which do you want: to keep doing this, or me to
get my shirt off?"
"Both," Ukyou replied, only getting more aggressive.
With effort far out of proportion to the activity, Ryoga
finally got his shirt off, tossing it aside as Ukyou slowly lowered
her head from his chin. Her warm kisses flowing over his neck,
then down onto his bared chest. As Ukyou rubbed her petite nose
against his pectorals, he sat back and let her do as she would.
Her hands pressed gently into his hard muscles as she touched all
of his naked torso, her warm mouth following behind. She travelled
over the whole of his chest while Ryoga sat there, letting her
control the motion, the tempo of the survey. The warmth from the
contact left him feeling powerless and she kissed up his left
shoulder then seductively down his back, dragging her left palm and
fingers across his chest after her.
Behind him now, she encircled his body with her arms, gently
playing with his small nipples while her face wormed into the small
of his back. Still dazed, he moaned passively as she continued her
tour, taking time to enjoy his wonderfully broad shoulders and firm
muscles. His chest heaved under the gentle embrace of her fingers,
and around back she lowered her head all the way to the line of his
pants. Still at that level, she crawled seductively beneath his
right arm till she was wrapped around his flank.
Kissing his belly-button, her nostrils flared as she could
smell a wonderfully scary, earthy sent rising from nearby. Closing
her eyes she shivered for a second, then slowly resumed her trek
across him. Working her way back up, she wormed back into his lap
and draped herself against him. Looking into his glassy eyed
expression, Ukyou couldn't help but feel a hot rush shoot through
herself. She gave him a lingering kiss as she arrived.
Warmly woken from his stupor by such treatment, Ryoga groaned
as his arms came up to enfold her once again. The soft fabric of
her yukata was wonderful beneath his fingers, but he found such
things could only come between them. Rising his hands through her
hair, he caressed her long tresses, then settled his fingers on her
shoulders. Grasping the fabric of her robe, he tugged out and
down, pulling the two parts away from each other.
The gap in the front of her robe spread wider as he pulled,
and after a second the top slipped off her shoulders. A little
surprised at herself, Ukyou brought her arms up to hold the robe
half to her, leaving her shoulders bare but allowing a sense of
modesty. It failed as her half-dressed state only caused Ryoga's
breathing to take on a more ragged edge to it as he looked at her.
With a trembling hand he swept her hair from her shoulders and put
his fingers on the creamy skin.
Feeling him touch her directly, Ukyou closed her eyes. Hands
she knew could break her in two were almost timidly gentle as they
traced over her shoulders and breastbone. Slowly they travelled up
the rise of her partially hidden breasts, and her breath started to
quicken with anticipation. Reaching the edge of the cloth, he
hooked his fingers in and continued to pull down. Not sure why she
would want to, Ukyou meekly resisted his efforts with her crossed
arms, but his pull was inexorable. With the soft whisper of silk
he pulled her robe down from her torso.
His eyes staring at the beautiful curves that defined her
body, he swallowed once and his nostrils flared. For an instant
she was afraid he'd start gushing blood and how that would
certainly wreck the mood, but slowly he raised his eyes to look
into hers with a burning expression. As they stared at each other
for a moment, Ukyou could feel the sweet tension of desire flare in
her body.
"Think your nose'll hold?" she asked quietly, teasing.
One hand flashed up to his face instinctively. Finding
everything OK, he looked a little annoyed. "Did you have to bring
that up?" he replied huskily.
Reaching out with one arm, he grasped the back of her waist
and pulled her to him in a sharp motion. Before their bodies
crashed together he brought the other hand up so it was filled with
her left breast as their chests collided. Any noise she might have
made was drown out as their lips met in a forceful kiss. As his
hand began to gently squeeze her captured breast, her arms rose to
slip along his flanks and help hold them together.
They deepened their kiss as Ukyou began to rock against him,
driving her free breast against him while he fondled her other one.
The pressure from this was shoving her hard nipples back against
her body, and the feeling was an ectatic mixture of pain and
pleasure. Moaning into his tongue she pushed against him harder,
wanting more of it.
Breaking their kiss, they began to nip at each other's lips,
taking short passionate kisses intermixed with desperately needed
groaning. Ryoga ran the hand behind her back down into the folds
of her robe and over her panty-clad rear. Ukyou grunted and
lowered her head to his shoulder, giving him a love bite as he
forcefully rubbed his cheek against her hair.
"You're pretty aggressive now," Ukyou noted, moaning into his
shoulder. He paused in surprise realizing she was right. Ukyou
used that momentary lapse to continue the attack.
"I...it's like in a fight; I just can't control myself after a
point," he moaned back as she rubbed his flank sensuously.
"Don't apologize...I like it."
Using his hand against her chest, Ryoga pushed her away as she
sought to cling tightly to him. She gave up her attempt when he
used his other hand to take her free breast and began to caress
both together. She whimpered as he gently explored all over her
chest, his fingers stroking the skin as well as gently touching her
nipples. It felt so good having him do this, always in wonder
about what he'd do next. Pulling hard on his back, Ukyou tried to
smother him against herself, only wanting more of what he was
giving. Ryoga resisted her efforts, keeping her just far enough
away for him to get what he wanted.
Finally she had enough. Reversing her actions, she grabbed
his shoulders and pushed. Taken by surprise he fell backwards,
drawing her along with him. Lying on top she scooted down and
attacked his mouth with hers, rubbing against him with the help of
gravity. Ryoga groaned and shifted beneath her, trying to find a
position that would relieve the uncomfortable pressure in his
pants. While he squirmed he moved his hands to her back and over
her flanks, following the curves as they rose and fell beneath his
fingers.
Ukyou savoured the sensations as she ran her hands over his
chest, and occasionally up to stroke her own breasts when she
could. Shifting her weight, she felt something hard press against
her as he writhed beneath her, and could not help but shiver.
Kicking her legs to free them from the tangle of robe and blanket,
she rose away and hunched over him.
She looked down at the boy beneath her and licked her lips
nervously. Breathing heavily Ryoga stared back, slowly reaching
for her. Noticing her hesitation he paused as well, confused.
Understanding came to him in a flash and he would have gone red had
he not already been flushed.
"Uh-" he began.
Overcoming her hesitation, she reached down and kissed him
lightly. "Come on," she whispered when they had their breath back.
"Let's get to it."
"I-if it's all right with you," he stammered, longing but
nervous.
"Hey," she said, exasperated, "I'm the one who's suppose to
require encouragement." Grinning as he spluttered, she traced her
hands slowly down his chest to his waist. Undoing his pants got a
sudden expulsion of air from him in reply. Ukyou tugged at his
trousers, pulling them down off his hips and down his legs.
Finally she got them off his body and indiscriminately tossed them
into a corner somewhere.
Ryoga's hands reached for his underpants but she slapped at
the offending appendages until they were withdrawn. "Mine," she
declared, grinning. Taking hold, she eased the garment down as he
raised his hips to help. They slipped off and Ryoga sighed as his
erect penis was freed, relieving the uncomfortable feeling he'd
been experiencing. Ukyou blushed as she stared down through the
shadows at the man before her.
"Wow," she breathed before she could stop herself. Realizing
what she'd said, she glanced up at his face and looked embarrassed.
"Sorry, it's just that when it's...it's just so different from the
other's I've seen."
Ryoga nodded, both thrilled and embarrassed with her watching
him, then suddenly started in surprise. "What others?" he
demanded. Ukyou shrugged casually.
"I did go to a boy's jr. high. P.E. class and all that."
Ryoga stared at her in amazement. "You mean you changed in
the boy's locker room?"
"I had to be a little careful, but yeah, I had to go in there
or somebody might get suspicious."
"And they never noticed you were a girl?" he asked,
incredulous.
"Ryoga, you use the public baths don't you?"
"Yeah, what's that got to do with it?"
"You ever look while the other guys are changing?"
"NO!" he shouted.
She grinned. "Well, neither did my classmates." While he
sputtered, she resumed her tugging and pulled the boxers off his
muscular legs. Once they were gone, she ran her fingers up the
inside of his legs till she neared his pelvis. Rolling out to the
top of his leg, she brushed over his member with a feather-light
touch. Ryoga groaned softly at the contact, the noise getting
louder as her fingers came back and gently enfolded his erect
manhood.
Gently, she ran her hand down to his body and scrotum. Softly
stroking, Ukyou rubbed it for a moment, then travelled back up his
length, tightening her grip slightly. A long, low groan rumbled
from his chest as her hand encircled him and muscles clenched in
response. Ukyou ran her fingers up to the head of his manhood, a
euphoric feeling coursing through her as she watched him react to
her actions. Smiling down at him she kept up her actions,
listening to him groan.
Ryoga suffered the pleasure of her activity for what seemed
too short an eternity. The pressure slowly built up in waves of
pleasure till he just had to act himself. With a new groan, he
pulled himself up and wrapped her in his arms. Their bodies
pressed tightly, he leaned down and kissed her, grimacing slightly
as she gave him a quick squeeze in reply.
Pushing, Ryoga eased them both down to the futon. Reluctantly
he grabbed her hand and pulled it away. Letting go of her wrist,
he travelled up her slim, muscular arm to her shoulder. Running it
down her front he covered her breast, caressing it softly. After
stroking the skin for a moment, he moved the hand down her ribs to
her flat tummy. While squirming in his arms, she reached down and
started to shove on her panties, wanting them off. The tight
fabric clung stubbornly to her figure and Ryoga's hands reached
down and covered hers. Together they shoved the gauzy undergarment
down her legs.
Once down as far as he could reach, Ryoga brought his hands
back up her curving thigh. Ukyou whimpered into his neck as he
settled his hand along her hip. Carefully he traced inward on her
leg, the girl in his arms starting to breath heavily. She moved
her legs as far apart as she could, but her panties were bunched up
at the knees keeping her somewhat entrapped. Gulping, Ryoga traced
upwards, his fingers brushing over her outer lips.
Ukyou mmmhhhed at the contact, then again as he probed further
in and skimmed her inner folds. Gently he pushed his hand against
her, flowing to her entrance which was so moist and warm. She
reached a small hand over to his and covered it as he gently rubbed
her. Rolling her hips, she savoured the strange feeling of
presence that he provided her. Getting his hand into motion he
eased into her warm entrance, shivering at how her body could be so
yielding yet still maintain a strong grip on him. Ukyou's swallow
breath echoed in his ear as her hand slowly helped push his
invading fingers inside her. Pulling back, he groaned into her
hair as he felt how damp and excited she was.
Trailing a path of her honey, she moved his fingers up from
her vagina and under her clitoris' protective hood. Ukyou jacked
slightly when he did that, her body rocking against him. He
circled around her sex repeatedly, listening to her gasp and moan
and rock against him as he did so. Her rocking gently rubbed
against his member, keeping him excited and hard.
Her heart pounding fiercely, Ukyou squeezed his hand against
her once more, then reluctantly rolled away from him. Facing away,
she bent over and shoved her panties down off her legs and kicked
them aside. Before she could turn back, Ryoga slid across the
futon and grabbed her from behind, one hand around her waist, the
other fondling her breast. She could feel his member pressing hard
against the curve of her ass as he rocked against her back. After
a few moments his hand reached down, hooked under her knee and
pulled the leg up. Keeping her leg held with his elbow, he brushed
a hand over her exposed inner thighs.
Ukyou grimaced as his fingers gently flowed over her wet sex,
while his other hand moved to caress across her waist. Turning her
head, she butted up against him till he moved to give her a
desperate kiss. Moaning into his lips, she used one hand to reach
between her legs and grab his member. Ryoga grunted in reply and
twisted his body, allowing his erect penis to slip out from behind
her.
She shivered violently in his arms, more noises struggling to
come from her throat. Tugging imperatively, she tried to move his
waiting manhood to her eager body. Her aim was off a little and
the head slid along the front of her entrance, dragging across her
button. Even while moaning from the results, she reaimed him and
tried to push herself back. Breaking their kiss, Ryoga tightened
his grip on her leg and slowly eased his hips forward.
Slowly his member forced Ukyou's petals apart, and warmth
engulfed his head as it pushed inside. Grunting, Ryoga pulled back
and propelled his hips forwards again, pushing against her soft
resistance. More of him went in this time, Ukyou whimpering as he
eased in slowly. They rocked several more times, 'till Ryoga
reached the end of an in stroke and found his pelvis pressed hard
against her ass. The feeling as her body gripped him so tightly
was as wild as it was passionate. Pulling back a little, he thrust
forward again and again. For a few moments the sex was rough and
disjointed as they crashed against each other unevenly. Ukyou
grimaced sharply, and he stopped. "You OK?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, but slow it down for a moment. Just take it easy
sugar." She slowly rolled her hips back into him as Ryoga gently
eased forwards. "Yeah," she purred as they gently pulled away,
then together as his hot and thick member slid deeply into her.
"Just like that." Slowly they eased themselves into a rhythm as he
drove inside her.
Her hands clutching at the futon sheet, she bunched up the
fabric as he continued to push into her. Still holding her leg
away from her body, Ryoga gripped her harder, the sweat from their
two bodies making his grip on tricky. Still thrusting, he raised
his hand from stroking her breast to caress her cheek.
Feeling something touching her, Ukyou turned towards the
sensation. Eyes closed as passion worked inside her, she grabbed
his fingers in her teeth and started to suck greedily on them.
Seeing her do that got a whimper out of Ryoga; the sight drove the
sensations he was experiencing even higher.
Rocking his pelvis against her firm ass, Ryoga drove deep into
her vagina, loving each and every motion from the two of them.
Rapidly, each stroke increased the pressure he was feeling in the
centre of his manhood. Nearing the edge, he slowed down for
several strokes, trying to drag the sensation out for as long as he
could. Ukyou whimpered at the change in tempo and reluctantly he
pulled his fingers from her mouth. She sucked on them for as long
as she could, then shivered as he dragged them down her cheek and
neck.
Grimacing, he pulled himself out of her with a soft pop.
Annoyed, Ukyou looked over her shoulder at him. "You're not done
yet?!" she snapped.
"No, I'm not," Ryoga growled. He took her shoulder and pushed
her on her back. For an instant he looked down as she lay there:
breasts heaving with her laboured breathing, skin shining with a
sweaty sheen, her eyes bright and staring. Looking at the beauty
of her curves gave him a shot of desire so sweet he could almost
taste it. Reaching in, he settled himself amongst her long limbs
and placed himself above her. As her arms wrapped about his
shoulders and pulled him close, he aimed his member and slid it
through her wet entrance and back inside once again.
It took a few moments of chaotic thrusting before they
recovered their rhythm. Careful to keep his weight firmly on his
elbows, Ryoga half embraced her as he began to speed up his lunges.
She was so warm and so tight, her body yielding just enough to hold
him a wonderfully slippery grip. Ukyou pulled his head down and
attacked his lips with hers, finding it hard to think when she
ground her sensitive pelvis into his wonderfully hard body.
Arching her back, she pressed as much of herself up into him as she
could.
Thrusting hard and evenly, Ryoga kept up the rhythm as he felt
himself get closer and closer. It was so close to the edge, and
Ukyou's soft whimpering was wonderful to his ears. Slowly his
control became unmaintainable, and all of a sudden the feeling of
pressure turned painful. He knew he was about to come; he bucked
wildly and pistoned into her savagely.
With a resounding groan his final restraint was torn away and
he shoved into her deeply, his manhood spurting inside her body.
Locked together tightly, he held still as his penis continued to
spurt, releasing his seed. Heart pounding, he gave a few
disjointed lunges to milk the sensation for all he could. Leaning
heavily onto her, he slowed his thrusting to nothing.
Ukyou squealed in frustration, reminding him that things were
not quite finished yet. Getting back into motion, he started
giving several more thrusts with his hips as he worked solely on
her. Driven by this last frantic thrusting, Ukyou shoved up as he
pushed up into her, letting the feelings engulf the emotions
already present.
With a loud cry, Ukyou pushed herself against him and clenched
all muscles tight as she orgasmed. Ryoga held on as she shuddered
wildly in his grasp. Keeping his thrusts even and deep, he rode
out her reaction as her breathing slowly changed from the loud
cries of ecstacy to the slower, laboured heaving as the feeling
burned down along her nerves. With a sudden powerful sigh, she let
her muscles go and fell limp in his arms.
Ukyou lay there exhausted for a few moments, loving the way
the fire slowly tapered away rather than just dying. Opening her
eyes she looked up and smiled at Ryoga, raising a hand to casually
stroke through his damp hair.
"Hmm," she intoned lazily. "I just don't understand it."
"Don't understand what?" he asked, reluctantly easing out of
her body. A soft unprotesting whimper from her lips delayed reply.
Limply she reached over and grasped the blanket, trying to
straighten it out from their activities. Eventually she gave up
and draped it over them while she snuggled up against Ryoga. Still
a little confused, he reciprocated till they were nestled together.
"You," she replied, yawning into his cheek. "How a jackass
like yourself can get lost walking a straight line yet you find
your way around a girl's body so well."
* * *
"So did you finish everything?" Akane asked, sounding a
little irritated.
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma casually replied, walking along the fence
with practiced nonchalance. "You don't have to keep bugging me
'bout it."
"Ranma, who had to remind you that we had an assignment due
today?"
"Hey! I had...other things on my mind last night," he
admitted lamely.
"So did I," she returned testily, "but at least I finished my
homework early, so that *I* didn't have to suddenly run off when I
remembered I had work to do!"
"You think I wanted to?! I hate homework, but *someone* told
me to go do it."
"Oh so it's my fault?" she returned. "I offered to help you
earlier, but you were busy fighting with your dad."
"Like I had any choice there; Oyaji doesn't take no for an
answer. Besides, you could have helped me after!"
"I had something else on my mind!"
Ranma jumped down in front of Akane and smirked at her.
"And it didn't involve you, you perverted freak!" she replied,
taking a swing at him as he skipped away.
"So you say."
"And I say it's dumb!"
Akane stopped from smacking Ranma when they heard that
comment. Both looked around, trying to figure out there the new
voice was coming from.
"Have you got a better idea?" another voice replied, sounding
slightly amused.
"Anything is better than this!" the first wailed.
"That sounds like Ryoga-kun," Akane said, looking around.
"Well then maybe it'll help fix your problem!" the second
voice countered, no longer amused.
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Isn't that Ukyou?"
For an answer, Ukyou stepped into sight from behind an alley
wall. She didn't see Ranma or Akane since her attention was solely
directed towards something trailing her. While she had her bookbag
in one hand, the other was filled with the end of some kind of
rope.
"Come on!" the voice of Ryoga whined. "This is embarrassing!"
"Shut up!" Ukyou replied, tugging hard on the rope which
caused Ryoga to stumble into sight of the other two, his face
blazing red. Akane and Ranma stared in amazement; the rope Ukyou
carried was really the end of a leash that snaked between the two
new arrivals. The other end was connected to a dog collar which
firmly encircled Ryoga's neck. Ukyou gave it another sharp tug.
"Is this really necessary?!" Bandanna boy wailed.
"You rather I go back to hitting you?" Ukyou returned.
"NO!"
"Well, I can't watch you all the time, and this is the only
way I can think of to keep you from getting lost!"
"There has to be a better way than using Shirokuro's leash!"
"If you hadn't wandered away while I was getting breakfast
ready, I might have agreed with you!"
"Come on, get this damn thing off me!"
"Shut up or I'll leave you tied to a tree while I'm in
school!"
With their friends too busy arguing to notice them, Ranma and
Akane stared at the pair in shock. Stunned, they turned and gaped
at each other, then back to the other two.
"What if someone sees me like this!?"
"Maybe it'll be an incentive for you to get some navigational
skills!" Ukyou replied.
"Uh...O-ohayo," Akane began hesitantly. The two newcomers
turned from their argument and looked startled at seeing someone
else present.
"A-A-Akane-san," Ryoga said, rubbing the back of his head
uneasily. "N-nice to see you this m-morning."
"R-Ran-chan," Ukyou stuttered, suddenly fidgeting over her
boy's uniform. "Hey, uh...nice day isn't it?" They both grinned
nervously, almost as if there was something they were uncomfortable
with.
Ranma stared at Ryoga for a moment, then turned to face Akane.
"Akane, I really do have to apologize."
"W-what?" Akane asked, Ranma's sudden and unexpected apology
getting her whole attention.
Ranma grinned. "Over saying that you're jealous. That," he
said, motioning to the other pair, "really proves who's on a short
leash." Both Ukyou and Ryoga looked blank for a long moment,
wondering what he was talking about. Then, at exactly the same
instant, their gaze fell on the item that bound them together.
Ukyou snatched her hand away as if the rope suddenly burned.
Beside her, Ryoga went blazing red and grabbed the collar. With a
single tug he tore it from his neck and threw it aside.
"Uh, I...she...we..."
"I...we...I was...you know...trying to...come up with a way to
solve his problems with directions."
"Awe forget it," Ranma said casually. "I've known Ryoga for
too long, and I say his problems are unsolvable." Beside him,
Akane had turned from him and dug into her school bag to remove a
single scrap of cloth. "He's just one of those cosmically unlucky
guys," Ranma continued while Akane walked towards Ryoga. "Nothing
ever goes his way."
Stopping before Ryoga, Akane held up the piece of fabric for
inspection. With an unreadable expression she watched his face.
"Is this your's?"
"Uh, yeah, thanks Akane-san," Ryoga replied, reaching for the
bandanna. "I'm always losing these things."
Akane's expression didn't waver in the slightest. "Actually
Ryoga-kun, this was P-chan's."
A wind blew by then, the flutter of clothing the only sign of
movement from the small crowd. Akane's face was still locked in
that unreadable expression, while everyone around her was
displaying unmistakable horror. Ranma finally recovered, his gaze
flashing over to Akane. She hadn't moved, apparently waiting for
some kind of answer. Ryoga looked devastated, his world having
come crashing down around his feet in smoking ash. Ukyou stared at
him fearfully, an icy shard plunged into her chest as she watched.
With great effort, Ryoga pulled himself back to reality. He
wanted to run, to flee this horror, but some small part of him
wouldn't allow him the easy way out. Not this time. Heart
pounding in his chest, he forced himself to stand still and face
what he had coming.
"A...Akane-san," he began. "I...I..."
"It's true, isn't it?" she demanded.
"...H...hai..."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked in a controlled, even
voice.
"I...I wanted to..."
"But instead you let me go on thinking nothing was amiss. You
let me think that...that P-chan was my pet; so when I finally found
out it would be even more a shock."
"Akane..."
"You should have told me," she continued mercilessly.
Ranma gulped and took a step forward. "Really now, it's not
all Ryoga's fault." He grimaced as she turned to face him. "I...I
kinda knew all along."
"And you never said anything?" She glared at him. "How could
you?"
Ryoga closed his eyes and stood there silently as emotions
tore through him. Ukyou took a nervous step towards him, her own
heart sore as she watched him suffer. She wanted to reach out, but
couldn't; words lodged painfully in her tight chest. Could she
even help? She knew the pain of the loss of the one she loved
would be too much for her to bear right now, could it be any
different for Ryoga?
Akane turned her gaze back to Ryoga and stared at him for a
hard, long moment. "Did you think I'd never find out?" she asked.
All he could do in reply was hang his head in shame. For awhile
she watched him, then sighed and closed her eyes tiredly.
"Ryoga-kun, I think it would have been better for all of us if
you'd come out and told me the truth." She looked up at him
firmly. "Don't you think so?"
"I...I...yes. You're right." He forced himself to look once
more into Akane's entrancing eyes, knowing even as he did so that a
life for him was over. "You're right...I'm...all I can say is I'm
sorry, Akane-san." She looked into his expression like she was
searching for the sincerity which was truly present.
"I still can't believe you never told me," she continued. "I
thought I knew you, but I never could have imagined this. Not even
after all you've done."
"Akane-san..."
She locked a stern glance on him.
"I...I...I'm sorry..."
Akane shook her head again and brought up the bandanna to eye
level. "I suppose in a way it's my fault as well. I can't believe
I never noticed this before. And you really should have said
something Ranma," she directed towards her fiance. He put his
hands up before himself and backed away a step.
"Well...I...you see...I didn't really want to-"
"Ranma!" She shook the fist that held the bandanna at him.
"I can't believe you! You know I'd never have kept him if I knew
the truth! You've always hated him so, how come you never told me
that P-chan was really Ryoga-kun's pet!?"
KA-THUNK (x3)
Akane blinked. "Guys? What's wrong? Was it something I
said?"
[fin]
-------------
[Author's deranged ramblings]
And with that dear reader, we leave them to deal with their
own problems. I'd just to say that Akane isn't stupid. In fact
she's one of the smarter people in the series (of course,
intelligence in Ranma is much like sanity in Evangelion: when
you're up against competition like that, it's not hard to be ahead
of the crowd). However, in the interests of a running gag, the
inability of P-chan's true identity to come out was more important
than any poor attempt at reality. I firmly believe that the fun I
get torturing Ryoga far outweighs any soul searching that would
come out of his discovery. After all, you can only kill someone
once...but you can torture them for eternity.
I'm still working on writing the deeper thoughts of
characters, one reason why this one is so full of people wondering
about what they're doing. I realize that some of the ideas
expressed in this partially contradicts how determined Ukyou was in
her cameo in Vol 2. part 3, but indecision and self-doubt is just
so much more fun. Gomen.
The package Akane's carrying in the early part is from Vol 3,
part 1. Read that and you'll understand why she wasn't eager to
show it off.
The 'fight' Akane and Shampoo got into was from Vol 1, part 2.
Perhaps the one idea I've been the most ashamed to ever have
written, I have nonetheless managed to get so much milage out of
that one concept that it scares me.
Having Ukyou and Ryoga go to his house to talk was purely
there so I could get Ukyou to dress up in one of Ryoga's
undershirts. Don't know why, but I find girls wearing their
boyfriend's shirts to be one of the cutest things in the universe.
(See manga Vol. 31 cover, Viz vol. 8 cover, or Akane when she's
wearing Ranma's clothes as in the Shampoo's soap story or the final
manga story respectively.)
The Ranma/Akane thing in the dojo was mainly to show that they
are interacting as a couple (abet still a confused couple) rather
than just two kids listening to their hormones. That and the
purring joke.
As for Shampoo and Mousse...well, they've got a long way to
go, but she's slowly being worn down by him. After all, as all
true Takahashi fans know: jealousy is the first step to a true and
solid relationship.
No Akari or Konatsu in this series because I wrote the first
Ukyou/Ryoga pairing before I'd ever seen the mangas where they
arrive. I decided not to use them because while Ryoga and Akari
make a cute couple, Ryoga and Ukyou are a far cuter and far funnier
pair. And I think the last thing Ukyou needs in her life is
another person who suffers from gender indecision.
Now, just to show that I have no idea over what I'm doing,
here's a list of the in-jokes in this episode, in order of
appearance.
Ah Megamisama (Oh My Goddess)
DNA squared
Baywatch (man I hate that show, and no, I don't watch it)
Xena: Warrior Princess
El Hazzard
Street Fighter II Alpha (I'll give you this one because
there's an in-joke in the in-joke. The character Sakura who Akane
spars against is from SF II Alpha. The line about her becoming a
Shinto Priestess is there because in my anime club we noticed that
just about every second girl with the name Sakura is a Shinto
priestess (UY, Blue Seed, etc). It's a running gag in our club.)
The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
Tenchi Myou
Marmalade Boy
Evangelion
Despite what one reviewer once wrote about while praising one
of my earlier works, I actually do like Ukyou. She's my third
favourite Ranma girl and a definite (although impossible) second in
the running for Ranma's heart. It just takes a little more effort
to write her properly, thus she hasn't been around as much as some
fans would have liked. I hope this ending episode will tide you
rabid Ukyou-philes over. ^_^
Yes, this is the final episode of 'Ranma .05.' There are
several reasons why I'm not writing any more of these: the simplest
is that I don't think I can keep up the good work I've been doing
on this series. It takes a lot to write something like this, and I
recognize that I can't keep bringing out the jokes and situations
as easily as I once did. The well is slowly running dry.
Along with that, I've written ten lemons and to be blunt, I'm
getting tired of it. Not that there's anything wrong with a
well-scripted lemon, it's just that I would like a bit more
variety.
And finally, I'm following the famous show-biz line, 'always
leave them wanting more.'
(Oh course, in scripting lemons I'm violating another cardinal
rule: 'write about what you know.' But that's probably more
information than you really wanted to know, isn't it? ^_^)
Many people have asked for a Kasumi lemon, and a few requested
one featuring Kodachi. The reasons why I never wrote a fic
centring on either character are simple. For Kasumi, I could never
come up with a believable reason for her to have sex. One key
element for this series was the (marginally) believable reasons
that drove the characters. I have to believe that the character
would do something before I'm willing to write it down. Because of
that, I could never come up with a realistic reason for Kasumi to
get intimate with Tofu-sensei (and I wouldn't stick her with anyone
else, I have my own form of pride...abet twisted and warped). I
could have written a multi-part story where they slowly developed a
relationship and moved on to the intimacy...but I've found that I
suck at writing multi-part stories.
As for Kodachi...well...to be honest, I'm not into what I
think an intimate moment with her would include. While I enjoyed
reading the well done 'Red Shoe Kasumi,' it confirmed my belief
that I'm *never* going to do an S&M or bondage lemon. (Just
watching one episode of 'The Sorcerer Hunters' fills my whips,
chains, and bondage quotient for the whole year.)
One final note: with this, I have finished writing ten lemons
without once referring to the word 'throbbing.' Truly an
achievement of epic proportions. ^_^
There are many people I'd like to thank. These are the people
who have, over the past few years helped me in some way with this
series. Everybody who ever read the series or wrote to me about it
(good or bad) has in some way helped me strive to make 'Ranma .05'
better and better. I'd like to thank you all, but I simply don't
know most of you. So I'll just thank those I can:
James Stone: It was he who originally showed that a lemon
could be written with a plot attached and no one would be the
wiser.
Tory, Alex, Nathan, Brian: for trying to corrupt me into the
evil that is MUCKing. To this day however, I remain (im)pure.
Brian especially kept saying 'I'll get into your author's notes
someday.' Well, you did, but not for any great work of insight.
You just bugged me long enough.
The Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta (BAKA): my anime club that
includes such wonderful people like Richard, Brad, Dan, Karen, and
others. Thanks for years of anime. And for keeping me from
getting a life.
Jeff Cao and Wade Tritschler: for writing 'I Thought We Were
Rivals' and 'Odd Outcome' respectively. These are both blatant
copies of an idea I came up with in 'Ranma .05.' While I'm not
saying they shouldn't have been written, I would have at least like
to have been consulted/informed. Parody of a work is fine, but
informing an author that you plan to steal shamelessly from their
labour of love is just a standard decency. (I'm joking. ^_^)
Still, authors would like to hear if you plan to do something like
that.
Sarah Plummer: for being the only fan who ever sent me a joke
worthy enough for her to be given status as an honourary
hordesperson.
The fan (name long since forgotten I'm sorry to say) who wrote
a letter to me after reading Vol 2, Part 2 to say: "I read your
joke about Ryoga getting lost on Dune and laughed so hard I spit
coffee all over my computer. If it stops working I'm going to send
you the bill." It is without doubt the funniest e-mail I've ever
gotten. (And luckily, I've never gotten the bill.)
Taleswapper: for continuously finding something worthwhile to
say about this series and my stand alone story 'Acceptance.' Thank
you for helping me get over some dark days when I almost stopped
writing.
The Horde O' Hentai: the greatest group of friends who have
ever been denied a day pass from the institution. They were never
too busy to spare a moment to remind me that my work sucks before
it's undergone 'goof-reading.'
Lee (Grey Wolf): for having the skill and desire to post these
stories to the net and to selfishly devote part of his web page to
archiving these stories.
Rob (Barbarian): who always made sure I suffered, thus
ensuring my success as a writer.
Craig (Dr. Ruminahui): For all he's ever done, and all he
keeps threatening to do to me.
Takahashi Rumiko: I've said it before and I'll say it again:
we're not worthy! We're not worthy!
And you, the fans: after all, the only real reason to write a
fan-fic is for fun. If it's fun to write and it's fun to read,
then all are happy and I've done my deed.
^_^
Horde O' Hentai Archive at: www.worldgate.com/~greywolf
Mail:
ddem...@ualberta.ca
or
grey...@worldgate.ca
And so, I leave you with the battle cry of the Horde O' Hentai
ringing in your ears:
"Don't go there son!"
Darren Demaine
Chairman of the Horde
Horde O' Hentai Productions