Ryoga's Girlfriend

Chapter 9

By: DaisukiFox

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, I think that's kinda' a given by now lolz

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The shock from Ryoga's statement lingered in the air as the scene's tension traveled in the air. Everyone seemed to be in a bit of a stand still, even the koi fish in the small ponds dared not move, least they set off a chain reaction from which they could not return. Soun who's mouth was still shot open from the statement, shook his head and forced composure on himself.

"That's absurd! Ryoga Hibiki! What manner of nonsense is this?!" Soun stomped his foot down as he raised one fist into the air. "Ranma is already betrothed to my dear Akane!"

Now that something important enough had come into the picture, Soun, faster than you could say 'rice buns' returned to his father mode; instead of man-child mode. "Now isn't the time for games..." he stated, suddenly removing his cosplay outfit in order to return to his normal wear.

Happosai followed shortly after, cursing underneath his breath before facing Soun. "It's my fault... the power of Ash and Misty's love transcended onto the boy and the Hibiki feller..." The Grandmaster clenched his fist out in front of him. "I should've known..."

Genma narrowed his eyes and shot his arms out to his sides, roaring much like an angry bear. He suddenly turned around and began writing on his sign, mumbling to himself in panda while he tried to express his obviously lengthy thoughts onto a single pick-it sign.

Though he intended to write on his sign, suddenly Soun ran into the dinning room and grabbed his warm cup of tea, returning in a comically quick cartoon fashion, he doused his fellow martial artist in the warm liquid, reverting him to his previous form.

Genma who had been returned to normal and drenched in tea, narrowed his eyes, standing up he looked in the direction of the Hibiki child, "We take you into our home, we feed you, we treat you like family and then you go and do something so..." Genma berated before he paused for a moment, his head looking away from Ryoga before bringing his head back, being the center of attention, "Vile! You're confusing Ranma and quite frankly making things worse! Ranma would never forsake his love for Akane!" he proclaimed, now pointing directly at the accused.

Soun's eyes trembled with anger, "Agreed! This is completely unacceptable!"

Ryoga throughout their conversation or rather what could be more accurately portrayed as an insult feast, remained calm, completely undeterred from his proclamation of love. Whenever Ryoga acted in this manner it meant that his business would get done one way or another. "I'm tired of hearing what everyone says is right, especially when everyone around me is just a damn hypocrite..." Ryoga remarked with a clenching of his fist.

Akane for her part was still dumbfounded by the way everything had turned out, everything that lead up to this moment, everything that fueled this turn of events, what was it? There was no way she'd accept this, there had to be something she could say to change his mind and make him see reason but the further she tried the more her frustration grew and she found her head dropping down, her anger building, so her first instinct was defense.

"Well too bad! Because that isn't going to happen!" Akane screamed, releasing her anger, her classical burst of anger.

Ryoga's eyes met Akane's and they stared into one another eyes, fierce flames of determination burning in their pupils. Ryoga knew that the battlefield wasn't one he was familiar with, in fact, neither of them were really familiar with the concept of romance but that didn't hinder them from fighting for who they wanted most.

Soun and Genma noticing the sudden outburst from Akane and for Ranma no less, smiled in her direction, happy to see that the future of their schools wouldn't go down without a fight.

What about the Saotome prodigy? What was her input in all of this? For the most part Ranma was looking off to the side, effectively staring off into space, trying to find some sort of opinion on the matter but what confused her even more was that she didn't immediately jump at any chance to push Ryoga away with some form of rejection. 'What is it? Why can't I just tell him to cut this trash out! I-I'm his pal, right? T-that means that I don't want em' to leave is all, right? Right!?' Ranma thought as she felt an unpleasant feeling in her gut, as if it was telling her there was more to this than she was giving in to.

To Ranma all the noise from the world was blurred, her thoughts taking up all the things she was hearing and seeing, then Akane made her claim, snapping the red head out of her trance.

Feeling like the unpleasant feeling in her stomach was growing, Ranma's eyes widened. Her attention was brought back to Ryoga as he had kneeled down, still as stoned-faced as before, his hand reaching out for her to take. Ryoga thought the following, 'Take my hand Saotome, like I took yours... please...' Ryoga's breathing became a bit panicked as he waited for the red head's next course of action.

Akane, with baited breath waited for Ranma to make her move, hopefully, she would do the right thing and set him straight.

Ranma's breath mimicked that of Ryoga's but was more apparent due to the fact that she was still shocked form the previous confession. This gesture of kindness wasn't helping, since the ambiance of the situation was deeply romantic, which even, strangely enough, frightened her. "I-I-I... uh..." Ranma babbled as she dragged herself backwards.

Ryoga sighed before lowering his head, the wind kicking up gently and swaying his hair. "Ranma, pl-" the Hibiki child didn't get to say his next words for Soun and Genma came in charging from the air and brought their fists down on Ryoga's location, kicking up debris and causing some major damage to the roof tiling, a cascade of lumber and roof tiling going in all directions but from the smoke.

Ryoga could be seen jumping out from the explosion and eventually landing on a different part of the roof.

The smoke cleared to show Soun and Genma at the center of the attack, a gaping hole in front of them. "I repeat myself! Not on your life!" Soun shouted, baring a scowl.

Genma with a glare to his glasses said the following. "I had high hopes for you boy, but nonsense like this needs to be stricken down..."

Nabiki felt a vein twitch in her head, here she had gotten her camera and was ready to take the picture that would seal the deal on their bet but circumstances arose; as they usually did. 'And so the tale continues...' Nabiki thought, begrudgingly. Though the love story between Akane, Ranma and Ryoga continued that meant that Ryoga certainly made a dent in Ranma's defenses, it was clearly evident from her lack responses, not only that Akane was now more upfront than ever. Destiny had a choice to make or rather destiny was a certain man among men.

Kasumi throughout this had no idea what to make of Ryoga's affection, she was open minded but even she never saw this coming, especially from Ryoga, the supposed number one Akane fanboy. 'My... I never knew this could happen, I do hope everything turns out for the best...' she thought.

Ranma jumped back when she saw that Soun and her father jumped in the way of Ryoga's extended hand. What was she to do? Why was she feeling so awkward? There was a feeling of excitement and fear running through her, which reminded her of that feeling she got when she heard Ryoga say that they'd never be anything more than friends, she reached one of her hands over to her heart and grasped it, as if pleading for it to stop feeling the way it did, her efforts were in vein, so she turned to frustration, she may have pretended to be Ryoga's fake girlfriend but that didn't mean she actually wanted to fall for him. It was then that her uncertain feelings for Akane surfaced and all their moments they shared, 'Damn it! No! No! No!' she thought, furiously fighting them back.

Akane who had been watching the everything unfold found herself looking around with baited breath until her attention fell back to Ranma. The pig-tailed girl seemed to be in distress as if she was uncertain of what to make of anything. "Ranma!" Akane exclaimed.

Ryoga who was staring down Genma and Soun, heard Akane's call to the Saotome prodigy. He finally took the time to see what was happening with the redhead, he was shocked to see her in such distress, that to him was enough to let him know that chances were, that Ranma wasn't going to give them a chance. The lost boy closed his eyes once, letting small tears flow from his eyes, 'Just the story of my life...'

Genma and Soun saw this as something to used to their advantage, "You see what you're doing to Ranma!" Genma shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards him.

"Your actions are shameful! Now leave!" Soun added, throwing his arms out to his side.

Ryoga promptly turned around, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trying his best to put some major distance between him and Ranma. He had no idea where he was going but that did little to keep him from trying to avoid the pain swelling up in his chest, it got to the point where he could feel his breath turn swallow.

Ranma heard what was said to Ryoga but wasn't sure what to say, because either way she'd be a disgrace for even acknowledging Ryoga's affectionate claims and she really couldn't say anything that'd hurt him. She was close to him, as close as rivals, that were also friends, could be. She felt trapped in her own world, she couldn't very well say anything without risking some negative consequences, so, she choose to remain quiet. Seeing him go in the distance she lowered her head a bit and sighed, not only feeling weak but also feeling like a major jerk for not defending Ryoga, but what was she to do? Get angry? That was certainly something she could do.

"You idiots!" Ranma exclaimed, turning to her father and Soun, suddenly regaining her backbone. "He's confused is all!" she stated, wobbling to her knees and using her hands to help her maintain her balance.

Soun and Genma were surprised that Ranma's immediate response wasn't that of gratitude but rather annoyance. The two turned to her and were soon standing before the drenched red head, this, of course, got her to lean back in shock, that was until the Genma placed his palm to her forehead.

"Huh... Ranma doesn't feel sick..." Genma commented.

Soun was using a popsicle stick to lower Ranma's tongue to see if something had been indeed wrong with her, the two continued their series of tests for as long as Ranma could stand them, which wasn't much since the redhead seemed to grow more and more irritated by the second.

"Get off me!" she exclaimed, suddenly punching the two into the air, the two father figures could be seen hovering in the distance. The use of her fist proved to be more than she could handle, since the feeling of pin needles spread throughout her body yet again, reminding her of the effects of Ryoga's technique.

With the pause in insanity, the red headed martial artist took to following the fang toothed boy but could only get as far as taking wide steps and screaming in her throat whenever moving forward. "Ah!" she cried, contorting her face in pain as she then proceeded to taking another step but right after she did the ladder to the roof was seen slapping onto the side of the house.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ranma! Stop!" Akane ordered, seeing how much Ranma was actually forcing herself.

"Butt out!" Ranma barked, turning to the blue haired girl, giving her a scowl. "He's just messed up in the head is all... I'll get em' back and talk some sense into him."

Akane upon hearing Ranma's demand to mind her own business, she paused for a moment, holding her hands close to her chest before reaffirming her position and feelings towards Ranma. "Ranma! Stop! I mean it!"

"I ain't just gonna' let him go, Akane!" Ranma shouted, meeting Akane's eyes, after a brief pause of silence Ranma turned to face in the direction of Ryoga's retreat but before she could go any further, Akane's voice called to her.

"Ranma... what does Ryoga mean to you?" she asked, casting her eyes downward, her tone suddenly changing to a more soft and fragile one, one Ranma would often affiliate with him having done something wrong and needing to apologize, except in this case it was to answer some deep personal question.

Ranma froze in place, her pig tail raising in shock as she then as still as a statue. "He's my friend is all..." Ranma answered, feeling very awkward, as well as very flushed but as much as she wanted to address this feeling she was more preoccupied with the fact that Ryoga was getting more and more lost as time went on.

Akane took notice of Ranma's not so subtle reactions and response, now taking Ryoga's attraction to her future husband, much more seriously. "Is that all?" The blue haired girl continued to press for answers.

"Course that's all!" Ranma shouted her answer, swiftly turning around, only to cause her eyes to go wide from the stinging feeling of needles surging through her body, a blush going across her face as she fell to her knees. 'Damn it! Get up you stupid body! I ain't some weak girl, now get up!' she thought, pushing her limits in her current state.

Akane, naturally tried to reach for Ranma in order to help her up but saw that Ranma was refusing her help and instead opted to stand on her own two feet. "Why are you trying this hard? You've only ever tried this hard for..." Akane gave pause, looking to the roof tiles.

"Akane this ain't about you!" Ranma shot back, yet again letting the moment get the best of her, bringing up something that shouldn't have been relevant at the time, well it was starting to wear thin on Ranma's nerves. There was someone in need and all Akane could do was think about herself.

Akane gave no response, there was nothing to be said, the red head was right, someone was out there and obviously in need but did that someone have to be specifically Ranma? The one Ryoga proclaimed his feelings to? This bringing about another surreal feeling from the Tendo girl. "Ranma... are you really sure about this? Aren't you the one he's..." Akane tightened her lower lip.

Another flustered feeling shot through the red head's body like a jolt of lightening, pushing it back to the best of her ability she pressed on. "He needs help Akane!" Ranma exclaimed, turning to the blue haired girl. "Wait..." Ranma paused, her eye twitching. "How long have we been talkin'?" Ranma questioned aloud.

Akane's own eyes widened in realization, who knows how far Ryoga had gotten up to this point, for all she knew he could already be nearing the end of the district for how long she had distracted Ranma, not intentionally but because of her doubts of Ranma's feelings towards her. "Oh..."

Ranma decided that pushing her body to the extreme was necessary and quickly turned in the direction Ryoga had run off to. Though her condition was racked with pain, she remembered that losing someone was way worse than any form of physical harm, even though her body screamed at her as she ran she took off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, fighting off screams of pain while doing so.

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Kodachi & Ukyo

The dynamically insane duo could be seen coming out from average sized pool somewhere in the district, Ukyo could be seen wringing her clothes out while Kodachi was on her back, as was the case with some people who come out from the water. Her clothes feeling weighted from the amount of moisture trapped within the fabrics, she panted for a bit before sitting up and placing her hand on her chest and coughing out chlorine filled water.

"I try to team up with you, I try and save Ranma from-" she gave pause, remembering the her claim of the pig-tailed girl and her magic over Ranma and making Ranma look like the crimson haired girl. "That evil witch..." she said, drawing her tone out as she then placed her hand over her mouth, fake coughing. "Either way, you're an idiot if you think you can free Ranma on your own!" Ukyo barked as her head inflated in a typical anime fashion before returning to normal size.

Kodachi glared at the lower class girl before sighing with her eyes closed, admitting defeat and reluctantly deciding to put her pride aside for the greater good of her Ranma. "Fine... even some of the greatest leaders in the world, need subordinates..."

The vein on Ukyo's head felt as though it was a water balloon nearing its limit, face palming the desperate chef dragged her hand across her face before slapping herself, 'This is for Ranma's sake... this is for Ranma's sake!' she thought, squeezing the handle of her spatula. "I'm not your subordinate, I'm your partner and if you want any success of doing this, you'll remember that!" she exclaimed, slamming over-sized cooking utensil in front of the Kuno child.

Kodachi cringed and stared at where the blade like spatula had hit, it was a good thing she was quick on her feet. "Well, I suppose working together does yield more results..." Kodachi commented, somewhat nervously, "fighting each other only left an opening for that brute." she said, going back to talking like a proper lunatic—err... lady.

Ukyo shock her head, the more and more she thought about it, the more and more she realized that Kodachi would only act as someone to provide distractions. "We gotta' approach this differently... we can't beat Ranma or Ryoga in brute force..." Ukyo stated, putting her hand to her chin.

Kodachi's eyes widened, why hadn't she thought of this before. "Yes! We simply paralyze my darling Ranma in order to draw that red headed demon out!" she exclaimed, then clasped her hands together. "Then while we're waiting I'll try and use my beauty and charm to break this dreaded curse!"

Ukyo looked at the Kuno child and raised a brow, "You're forgetting another problem... Ryoga..."

Kodachi's only response was an oh-so-superior sounding giggle, "The more the merrier..."

Ukyo considered the possibly of Kodachi betraying her and followed with, "You have the antidotes for these things, right?" she asked, somewhat nervously.

"Of course..." she smiled, proudly, "Failing to do so is extremely unladylike." she commented, but her real reason was because sometimes she would accidentally inject herself with the poisons, so precautions were made for such occasions.

Ukyo sighed, she'd just have to steal some of the cures while Kodachi wasn't looking. "So, should we go to your place?"

Kodachi nodded, "Yes, we must make the preparations, I haven't nearly enough for that brute."

Ukyo gave a nod of confirmation before reaching her hand out to Kodachi, which was promptly refused as Kodachi ignored it and rose to her feet. That got a vein twitching but Ukyo would press onward. Kodachi leaped towards the roof of the pool they landed in, Ukyo following close after.

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Ryoga

Ryoga was forever lost in his world of sorrow, his cruel fate leading him to chase the impossible, first Akane and then Ranma. All he could do be caught up in a rampant river, escaping but only to end up in another, even more impossible river. He had proclaimed his feelings and not only that, challenged Akane for the right to stand by Ranma's side.

Being lost in his thoughts and location, he hadn't realized that he had gone in a complete circle, near the Furinkan High School. The lost boy landed on a nearby rooftop, again, his thoughts were so engrossing that he didn't even notice the high school just over his shoulder. The thing that plagued him the most was, what did Ranma feel? Why couldn't she just be honest or easier to read? Then again, him being honest about his feelings came as a shocker when he told everyone in the entire Tendo dojo and possibly the neighbors, that he loves Ranma. A thought that in the past few weeks would have caused Ryoga to blindly attack anyone who even dare suggest such a notion. 'Why do I like Saotome...?" Ryoga began to think, now seriously putting his thinker on the subject. "T-There's the fact that we're martial artist... Rivals in martials arts, rivals for Akane or at least used to be..." as Ryoga continued to ponder the idea it caused his shallow, "We understand each other, when we need it, we help each other..." blushing even further Ryoga's eyes widend as he realized that he enjoyed the fact that Ranma challenged him to improve, the thrill of besting the other, whenever his efforts paid off and whenever Ryoga would then be given purpose in training. Placing his hand on his head, he leaned on a air conditioning unit right behind him. "Then we got to be friends... she stood up for me, she kept my secret, she fought for me..."

"I love you, Ranma Saotome..." Ryoga announced to an audience of no one, except for the hidden figure behind him.

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Ranma(same time as 'Ryoga')

Dashing through the rooftops Ranma's eyes scanned for any signs of Ryoga's presence, eventually coming across a billboard with a huge hole in the center, a strange Ryoga shaped hole through it, that was enough for Ranma to get a vague idea of where the Lost Boy was. Ranma's eyes were narrowed with what seemed to be fiery determination, not one of extreme anger but of extreme focus, which meant that a million thoughts were going through her mind. 'What's going through that head of yours, Ryoga? Saying you' l-love me in fronta' everyone!' Ranma thought, but found herself confused by how Ryoga was effecting her, one minute she was trying to kill him and the other she's confused because he's confused about their fake relationship? 'Gah! Why is this so weird! Only other time I've had these feelings they were for!' Ranma's thoughts became too much, which caused her focus to shatter, her expression became one of complete and utter confusion, shouldn't she just let Ryoga run off? What was she expecting to do to him? Talk him out of loving her? Why was that so hard all of a sudden? 'Argh! Should've known he'd take it too far! Should I even bother finding the oaf!? I should just go back and pretend none of this ever happened...' Ranma couldn't press her thoughts onward, for it seemed that a mental block wouldn't allow her to make matters worse, there was a tightening in her chest.

The Saotome prodigy gritted her teeth in an effort to push back these feelings but before she could give her feelings further thought she came across Ryoga, leaning against an air conditioner, his back turned to her.

The red headed girl clenched her first before jumping over and landing on the roof behind him, then almost as if he knew she was behind him she heard the following.

"I love you, Ranma Saotome..."

Again the atmosphere was changed thanks to Ryoga, she shrieked in surprise, frozen in place; no man should ever have this power over her! Ranma's reaction actually snapped the lost boy out of his thoughts.

"Ranma!?" Ryoga exclaimed, looking over the air conditioner he was leaning on, his hand on the corner of it as his shocked eyes met Ranma's.

Staying frozen in place, since what Ryoga had said once again forced him to address her whole Ryoga issue. "Ryoga... y-you're..." Ranma started, reaching her hand back to scratch the back of her head, "I mean you're!" Ranma tried to say, showing some anger behind those words, which caused the Lost Boy to cringe and lean back, only to make Ranma retract that approach, "J-just...I don't know!" Ranma screamed, placing her hands on her head, racking her brain for answers.

Ryoga desperately wanted to comfort the confused martial artist but knew that he was the cause for this, who could blame her really? The one you're trying to make your friend ends up saying they love you, not only that, he challenged this person's supposed fiancé. "Look... Ranma... I-I meant what I said..." Ryoga looked to the side, blushing brightly as saying this was quite the difficult thing, before now it was the circumstance that caused him to give a slip of the tongue and now this was him attempting to embrace it.

Ranma shook her head, trying to ignore what was being said to her. That forced Ryoga to speak his mind, when there was something important to say, you said it, even if it meant pushing past your mind's natural defenses.

"Listen to me, Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, closing the gap between the two and grasping Ranma's wrist, his eyes staring into her deep sapphire eyes. "I'm tired of you running away from everything!"

Ranma responded to Ryoga's anger with her own, "What do you know about it!? Huh!? You're always runnin' away!"

"Well, I'm done now!" Ryoga barked back, tugging her wrist, effectively bringing her closer to him, the close contact had Ranma's feminine form pressed up against Ryoga's, strong masculine form. "You got some choices to make, Saotome..."

Ranma's eyes widened, no longer holding any hint of anger, instead replaced by a look of utter doubt. Ryoga released her hand when he came across that look, knowing that his rant had actually made an impression on her.

Ryoga stared into her eyes, "The reason I left is because I'm tired of everything in my life becoming a hoax..." he stated, looking to away from the red head, his eyes staring off into the distance. "And now I have something real..." he wanted to add that Ranma was that 'something real' but withheld it, for now, besides he figured it was a given now.

Ranma remained speechless, her brain lacking the proper words for the moment. "I didn't mean for this to happen..."

"Then just break my heart and be done with it, Ranma..." Ryoga sighed, not sounding defeated but ready for Ranma's response. "You're misleading everyone, just marry Akane and let everyone get over you and move on..."

"Ya' think it's that easy, huh?" Ranma asked, with her head down. "You gotta' live with hurting people, some who fought tooth and nail for you and you think it's that easy to move on!?"

"Of course, it's not!" Ryoga shouted, "But it's part of life Saotome! Everyone has to deal with it! Everyone has to feel pain, some more than others!" He exclaimed an angered look on his face as a few tears fell from his eyes. "That's all I've been dealing with! You don't think I've had hardships, Saotome!? Huh!? Cause if you think I haven't, then you're a damn fool!"

Ranma looked to him before moving over to the lost boy, which caused Ryoga to lean back ever so slightly, unsure of where this was going. "This is what you want, right? Pig brain?" Ranma asked, in a dull tone, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Just take it..."

Ryoga turned away, gritting his teeth. "Don't toy with me!" Ryoga stated, reaching his hands to hers. "I want the real you... anything else is a just another hoax..." He explained softly, opting for something else he reached out to the girl, her distress was far too obvious for him to ignore, so he brought her into a warm embrace, digging his nails into her back a little.

Ranma stayed in Ryoga's arms, unsure of what to say. "Ryoga... I... I don't know..." Ranma replied, showing signs of wavering certainty.