Ryoga's Girlfriend Ch10
By: DaisukiFox
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Ranma ½ is owned by Viz media and Rumiko Takahashi.
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Trapped... that was the best way to describe how Ranma felt, not only by her concern but by her breath too. Ranma's feelings for Ryoga weren't as simple as a close friend, they were rivals in martial arts, friends and something more; maybe. Each experience they had, did it really warrant Ryoga's feelings? What of her own feelings? They certainly played a part in this equation, otherwise Ranma could simply act like Akane and be entirely oblivious to his feelings; even if they were beyond obvious.
Instinctively Ranma reached her hands out and wrapped them around Ryoga's waist, clinging onto him. Though she did so, there was a peculiar manner in which she did , her movements were as soft and awkward, too delicate for someone with Ranma's personality. It was then that she thought that maybe being a girl for prolonged hours at a time has effected her mind, this acted as some sort of defense mechanism for her to escape to, Ranma immediately tried to jump on the denial bandwagon. That was until it occurred to her that she had been stuck as a girl for even longer periods of time than this, in response Ranma gritted her teeth. Now she felt vulnerable to her own whims because they could very well be her true feelings for Ryoga.
Ryoga stood still as Ranma held onto him, he didn't think his impact would be this huge. Usually Ranma was more stubborn than a donkey in a staring contest, but now there was a storm brewing in her and Ryoga was uncertain as to whether the effect would be positive or only bring him into the eye of the storm. "Ranma..." Ryoga began, only to have Ranma tense and squeeze him a little harder.
"Just shut up for once, kay!" Ranma exclaimed, gritting her teeth and fighting back the feelings inside of her. Though she told him to stay quiet that was in no way a means for Ryoga to stop holding her. Ranma continued to ponder her feelings on the subject of Ryoga but found herself for a lack of words. Why were her feelings so difficult to describe, much like a song with no vocals or lyrics, it spoke volumes to Ranma but said absolutely nothing to her, the only other person she could say gave her this feeling was... Akane. It was then that it occurred to her, she didn't always act on reason alone. There was things in this world that lacked logic, an unnatural attraction to someone.
This profound realization strike Ranma like a sudden jolt of lightening, her situation was that she liked Akane for reasons beyond her understanding and in this case the same applied. Though which weighted more heavily on her? Akane or Ryoga? Who's attachment towered over the others? Now Ranma returned to the issue she had hoped she could avoid; who to pick? Moving away from Ryoga, feeling thoroughly disgusted with herself for having shown such a level of weakness, she took a deep breath and met Ryoga's eyes.
The lost boy's eyes met with Ranma's, the moment now feeling thoroughly tense, Ryoga decided that now would be the time to press the matter. 'I'm tired of this feeling Saotome...' Ryoga thought. "Make up your mind, Saotome..." Ryoga said, feeling that his odds were very slim. Factoring in Ranma's real gender, Ranma's interactions with Akane, and all the others Ranma encountered, he wondered if he had really made a dent in Ranma's feelings for him or had he merely confused her.
Either by the fates or completely by coincidence the wind picked up as Ranma stared at Ryoga, the two lost in each other's gaze. Ryoga's eyes spoke his feelings, although he appeared to be much more confident than ever, he was still uncertain of the outcome of this, to the point that he wished that Ranma would simply stomp out his feelings and let him get on with his life, pain was an all too common thing to him now. 'Just do it already, Saotome!' he thought as his eyes closed shut.
Ranma with dazed, almost trance like look, lowered her head very slightly.
Ryoga's eyes widened at this, that face, it was extremely familiar, panic rose in his chest as he saw that her head only dropped further. Now Ranma's image was that of the dream Ranma he had seen, minus the rain, the situation was still very bizarre.
Opinions or views on are often said to go hand-in-hand with one's emotions. Such as one's perspective on an ideal relationship, whether platonic, hatred or romantic. Though that was often the case, this was no such situation, Ryoga had changed the variables on Ranma. They had gone from dislike, to platonic and finally to romantic. Although these things did occur, they could often be mistaken for being swallow or incredibly naïve but for Ranma the situation felt much more complicated than that. This pattern was also similar to the relationship between her and Akane; except that Akane would shift between all three emotions much too frequently. This was the comparison between Akane and Ryoga that Ranma noticed and it shocked her to notice this.
"Ryoga..." Ranma whispered, her hair still casting a shadow over her eyes.
Ryoga tensed at the mention of his name and at the tone Ranma said it, noticing the slight gasp at the end.
"A-akane..." she said, now stuttering.
Ryoga bit his lip upon hearing the Tendo girl's name.
The red headed girl pushed past all her defenses, ignoring all of her natural instincts and contemplated who weighted more heavily on her heart, Ryoga with all their moments together and their friend like relationship, good or bad was still a deep and very profound one but the time she's shared with Akane also meant a lot to her. All the time they had spent together, slowly getting to acknowledge one another's feelings, those instances of weakness they had. Ranma's heart began to beat like a drum, it was a strange level of uncertainty.
"Ranma..." Ryoga began, noticing her turmoil, he reached his hand out, only to retract it upon Ranma speaking to him.
"Ryoga... I'm sorry..." Ranma responded, rising her head. Ranma stood still for a second as she became lost in Ryoga's emerald eyes, this hard to control desire growing in her as she stared, her heart yearning but knowing that if she proceeded any further she might not like the consequences of her choice. Ranma felt as though she had hit an impasse, she wanted to make her progress and leave her decision for a different time, staying forever adrift in her twilight zone, but knew that she could no longer do so for Ryoga did have a point, as much as she hated to admit; Ranma wasn't a puppet master, she couldn't pull on their strings forever.
Thinking as deeply as she possibly could she analyzed her relationship with her and Ryoga, a tingling feeling rose up from behind her head, making it difficult to think but combined with that she noted butterflies floating in her chest. Then came the various moments of intimacy they shared while being a fake couple. She recalled all the times she stumbled when getting close to Ryoga, all those moments she contemplated them being an 'object'.
"Ranma..." Ryoga said, reaching his hand out, retracting it as he saw that she was deep in thought and knew he shouldn't make a move, yet. 'Damn it Ryoga... just wait.' he thought, closing his eyes and holding his clenched out fist in front of himself.
Taking a deep breath Ranma recalled her various adventures with Akane and how often they'd lead to somewhat awkward and somewhat romantic moments, but, romantic none the less, some had even gotten far too romantic for those two to continue just viewing each other as pests, yet, they continued to. What about those times they spent worrying about one another, the small favors they would often do, those moments of laughter they shared, those moments where both would drop their guards and act like good friends. A pain rose in her chest, abandoning those moments, the moment she broke Akane's heart. Could her feelings for Akane just vanish? Or would they always be a part of her? Are they a part of one another? Now Ranma felt depressed, but she had to give an answer... an answer she knew would come with a high cost.
"I'm sorry... Ryoga, I really am..." Ranma answered, sighing deeply. Before Ranma knew what was going on, she was brought into an embrace by Ryoga, his eyes now nothing but dark silhouettes.
"Huh..." Ranma blushed suddenly, feeling as flushed as anyone in a moment such as this.
Ryoga held himself back, this could at least ease his sorrow, one more moment before the end. "I'm sorry too, Saotome..." he responded before pushing her away from him, causing Ranma to fall flat on her rump. That was Ryoga's window of opportunity, which he executed in the following order, by first jumping over the end of the building, falling to the ground he positioned his hand to strike a breaking point on the ground, which triggered an explosion, scattering debris like confetti, forming a plume of dust.
Ranma shortly after falling on her butt, tried to reach for Ryoga but was thwarted by Ryoga's technique, she tried to scan the area for any signs of him but saw that he vanished. Now all that was left behind was a downtrodden Ranma and a gaping hole in the ground, one that resembled what a small meteor crater might look like.
"Damn it, Ryoga..." Ranma sighed.
Unbeknownst to Ranma, Ryoga had hidden in someone's backyard, leaning against a rather large tree, hugging his knees as his eyes remained shadowed by his hair, as well as the shadow that was cast by the tree.
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Akane
Shortly after Ranma's departure, Akane dreaded what might be the outcome of Ranma's return. Though she didn't want the outcome to play in Ryoga's favor, she still felt herself remembering everything she, Ranma and Ryoga went through. To throw it all away seemed too painful to imagine, and now here she was kicking herself for not actually following after Ranma. Now here she was in the dinning room, near the backyard porch, wondering when Ranma would make her return.
Despite all of these things, Akane, still felt sympathy for Ryoga. Although he was trying to win Ranma over; she still couldn't bring herself to hate him completely, she'd still lash out at him, anyone would. 'Ryoga... why Ranma? Why couldn't it be someone else... someone who doesn't mean so much...' she thought as she closed her eyes, her hands gripped the fabric of her dress, looking for some way to ease the tension. 'Why didn't I fight Ranma about going with him...? Why...? Why!?' Akane thought, shaking her head as she fought back tears.
"Akane...?" A voice called out to her.
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Kuno & Shampoo
At first Kuno absolutely refused to train alongside the sage like teacher, Cologne. Though his argument proved to be futile with how intimidating and how well she was easily able to defeat him, claiming that his strength will always be beneath him, unless he allow her to train him. Cologne also played to Kuno's ego and tempted him with fame and women, powerful women and skilled women. That for some reason earned him a slap from the Amazonian girl.
The trio and Sasuke made their way into the mountain but before they could reach those mountains they had to traverse the expansive forest before them, sounds of life echoed throughout the forest, birds flying, woodland critters hiding, butterflies fluttering by and the majestic swallow could be seen raising its head as it noticed the three wayward travelers. Shampoo watched this spectacle in awe, sometimes she had in marvel at the beauty of nature. It was enough to give Disney a run for their money.
However Kuno didn't appear as awestruck as Shampoo, mostly because he had been forced to take equipment with them, as his backpack was nearly his height and just right behind him was their residential ninja, carrying a backpack of equal size, but seeing as he was much weaker than both Kuno and Shampoo, he was struggling to carry the supplies. If only to further his misery, Cologne was perched atop the large backpack, much like a bird perched on a tree.
"Why must I carry my own supplies, like the common folk!" he exclaimed.
"Stop whining child, you're only carrying half the supplies." Cologne shot back, she honestly wanted to test Kuno's strength but during their travel she noticed that Kuno had a hard time with just the one he was carrying. 'The boy's strength is much too low to compete with the others...' she thought, narrowing her eyes. 'It simply means his training will have to be centered around his speed and precision... been quite awhile since I've had a challenge like this...'
Shampoo looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, pouting. Why was she even doing this? She wasn't certain if she really cared about Kuno. Either way she was stuck with him, 'Is so bad...?' she thought. Although Kuno was a buffoon, she was still rather attractive on his own terms, if anything he reminded her of what she thought would be a feudal era, well, Romeo of sorts. 'N-no! Ranma is first! Kuno lucky!' she thought, her cheeks taking on a rosy color to them.
"Is she alright?" Kuno asked, as they saw her walking into a tree but completely unaware of the fact.
Cologne chuckled with the top of her sleeve suppressing her fits of laughter. "She's merely thinking, child..."
The others continued watch this spectacle, wondering when she would notice, but the tree gave way to the force of Shampoo's forehead, the little amazonian continued to walk, too lost in her thoughts.
'Just like her mother, this one...' Cologne thought as she watched. Kuno and Sasuke were like deers caught in headlights, they just watched a girl continued to walk into a tree, only to have it come crashing down faster than a lumber jack with a gas-powered chainsaw. At least Kuno, as Sasuke's knees finally collapsed under the pressure of the backpack he was forced to carry. "Oomph!"
Kuno looked towards his ninja with a blank look, "Sasuke..." he sighed.
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Akane
Kasumi waved somewhat meekly as she stood directly across from the youngest Tendo. The room was quieter than a room full of mutes, being as everyone had seen Ryoga's big reveal and technically coming out in a strange sort of way. Akane lowered her head and averted her eyes from her sisters somewhat awkward stare, knowing very well what she wanted to talk about or to just comfort her.
"My... today's been..." Kasumi paused, feeling a sweat drop forming on her head, "interesting." she finished, nodding her head once, forming an awkward smile soon after.
"Y-yeah..." Akane replied, feeling panic rise in her chest.
"A-Akane, you know why I'm here..." Kasumi stated, looking to the side. "Do you want to... maybe, talk about it?" she continued.
"T-there's nothing to discuss, Kasumi..." Akane replied, trying to avoid the subject.
"Akane... it could really help." Kasumi urged on.
Akane quivered her lower lip, closing her eyes as she shook her head, her hair swaying about like a mop(Hey... they can't all be good metaphors.).
Kasumi sighed, Akane wasn't getting anything past, especially with how little effort Akane was putting into it. Now her interest in Ranma was out in the open, to the entire family; objecting to someone's love confession was as clear as the difference between night and day. All of Akane's defenses had been stripped away and she was in need of a shoulder to cry on and being that it was her duty to help her sisters, she decided to take the initiative. "Akane, I don't know what's been going on between you and Ranma," she paused yet again, "and Ryoga, but whatever it was, changed what Ryoga sees in Ranma."
Akane wiped her tears with her sleeve, sniffling very slightly as she took a deep breath, regaining some of her composure. "I j-just can't believe it, after everything Ranma and I have been through..." she began to choke.
Nabiki, who could still be seen wearing the officer Jenny outfit, stared in awe as her back dragged down the wall, their conversation finally gave Nabiki the message she needed, her sister's relationship was in peril. 'There goes doing this guilt free...' she thought with a groan, looking over her shoulder she sighed as she knew what she was about to do could only lead to heat from Akane. 'But watching those two get all cutesy does make me wonder...' Nabiki thought; on the subject of Ranma and Ryoga.
"I think you need to be clued in, for once..." Nabiki said, while moving herself over to lean on the door frame. "Now where to start..." Nabiki began, getting nervous but attentive looks from the other two Tendos.
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Ryoga, Ukyo & Kodachi
The strange duo jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Kodachi snickering in her oh-so stuck up way. Ukyo on the other hand was losing her patience with her, 'There's only so much gloating I can take...' Ukyo thought as she looked towards Kodachi.
"We're not even there yet, so would you shut you yap!?" she shouted.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"My, my... you should be just as ecstatic as I am, we're about to defeat that harlot!" she laughed, placing the back of her hand over her mouth.
Ukyo rolled her eyes but as Kodachi was distracted she reached for the antidote she took from Kodachi's room. The okonomiyaki chef was indeed ready for any signs of betrayal, this was the battlefield of love and if her time in Nerima has taught her anything, it was never to trust the Kuno family; mostly because they were insane.
"Once we've disposed of the stooge, we move onto that cheap harlot and once we're done with her, my darling Ranma shall bask in my ever loving presence!" Kodachi exclaimed, announcing her plan, much like a comic book villain. That earned another roll of Ukyo's eyes, if there was anything she'd miss about this partnership, is the time she could have spent not teaming up with Kodachi.
The two were closing in on their target, sorta, they had only started jumping five minutes ago. Their relatively peaceful trip to take down Ryoga had become complicated the moment Ukyo's eyes caught wind of Ryoga dashing on by, a clearly distraught look on his face as he was clearly running with some goal in mind.
"Hey! That's Ryoga!" Ukyo exclaimed while in mid-air, she immediately shifted her position in the air and used her spatula to create wind resistance, effectively allowing her to turn around the moment she landed on the first rooftop. Kodachi was much slower to react but did so with much less grace than Ukyo, first landing on the rooftop only to crash into someone's air conditioning unit.
"Oomph!" she groaned as she recovered from her head trauma; much like most Kuno family members.
The chef rolled her eyes and leap onto the rooftops that followed the same path Ryoga was taking. Although something must have been up if Ryoga was using the normal pathways, this was something she'd have to find out once she wiped Ryoga out of the equation and although she had considered Ryoga a comrade at one point, this was Nerima and non-romantic things were trivial.
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Genma & Soun
The supposed heads of the Tendo household, walked with slumped shoulder and auras of depression, as if to make matters worse they hadn't succeeded in pummeling Ryoga for threatening the stability of their arranged marriage... er, joining of the two schools.
"We failed didn't we... Saotome...?" Soun inquired.
"Quit reminding me, Tendo..." Genma replied, begrudgingly, hearing about his failures wasn't something Genma liked, especially when it came to a man hitting on his son, 'I know m'boy won't give into temptation, even if they make a good Ash and Misty cosplay... a really good Ash an Misty...' Genma thought, completely lost in his thoughts.
Soun looked to his friend, showing an equal amount of disappointment, he had to admit that it would have been rather entertaining to show that Ryoga boy a thing or two, but before he could day dream any further, it seems that Kami-sama himself had smiled down on them as Ryoga ran right past them, kicking up some leaves as he did so. "Saotome! Did you see that?" he shouted, gawking at the site and even more so when he saw Ukyo running on the nearby rooftops, obviously chasing after said bandanna wearing boy.
Genma continued to think, 'Bet the boy could have won some cosplay pageants...'
"Saotome!" Soun exclaimed, slapping Genma with a hand fan, then he stomped his foot in Ryoga's direction. "The boy is getting away!"
Genma's eyes widened when some sense had been slapped into him, quickly shaking his head, he turned to Soun. "Why didn't you say something?" he asked as they joined the fray.
Soun grunted something incoherently as they started chasing Ryoga, the two kicking up a small dust cloud as they gave their all to catch up. As they were closing in on him, meaning that they could now actually see him, they noticed someone standing in Ryoga's way. Though the giant spatula behind this person's back might have been an indicator.
Like a car hitting the emergency brakes, Ryoga came to a screeching halt as he was greeted by the site of the girl he had thrown half-way across the district. "U-Ukyo?" Ryoga gasped, recalling their most recent encounter.
Kodachi landed directly opposite of Ukyo, snickering with the back of her hand to her mouth, "Hm... that was almost too eas-" Kodachi screamed before being trampled over by Genma and Soun, the two stopped exactly two feet further than Kodachi's current location, they however were still unaware of the fact that they had nearly turned Kodachi into road kill.
Both Ryoga and Ukyo stared in confusion as Genma and Soun stood before them, wondering if the two had noticed who they ran over. Though this was what anyone with a normal thought process would have seen it as, but by how proudly the two stood, one could guess that their perception on reality was border line Kuno family like in some ways.
"He's paralyzed in fear Saotome!" Soun declared, shifting to a traditional martial arts stance.
"Feels like old times, doesn't it? Tendo?" Genma replied, following his friends example.
"Argh!" Kodachi shouted as she had gotten back to her feet and was now holding a tranquilizer gun. Her first target being Soun, which succeeded as the father of the Tendo's fell to the ground, eyes closed and mouth open, a small puddle of drool forming.
"Well... that's one," Kodachi stated while loading another tranquilizer dart.
Genma watched as he saw his friend fall, glaring he readied himself. The large man clenched his fists and lowered his head, the suns rays reflected onto his glasses, casting a glare over them. "Child, you're a hundred years too early to-"
Kodachi could be seen cocking her dart gun and firing, she made sure to do so during Genma's gloating. If life has taught her anything, playing cheap had it's advantages, in every aspect of life.
"Wow... that's low." Ukyo commented, seeing as Kodachi didn't even allow Genma to finish his sentence, the large oaf droped like a sack of potatoes; dart sticking out from the side of his neck.
"Some prefer to call it, an opening..." Kodachi commented as she was preparing another shot for Ryoga.
Corned on both sides by Ukyo and Kodachi, Ryoga knew that running was no longer an option. He had to dodge Ukyo while avoiding Kodachi's darts, on top of that Ryoga wanted to leave the district as quickly and as humanly possible, but these two wanted to tango with him and he had no choice but to oblige or risk being harmed by them or harmed by Ranma again. Despite having a heart filled with grief, Ryoga urged himself to fight, even if they were women, so with that he addressed the girl with the most problematic weapon; Kodachi.
Kodachi upon seeing him turn around she fired a dart at him, targeting his forehead. Although she intended to hit him square in the forehead, she actually ended up missing due to Ryoga's reflexes and as the dart whisked by it almost hit Ukyo's cheek.
"Ah!" Ukyo screamed.
Ryoga dodged in the nick of time, which only served to further aggravate him in his already tense state. "Stop wasting my time!"
"Shut it!" Ukyo exclaimed, using this moment to get some answers out of Ryoga, while Kodachi loaded another dart. "Why did you get in the way, huh!? What happened with you and Ranma?" Ukyo probed, taking various swings, focusing primarily on speed rather than strength, as to keep Ryoga on his feet and to keep him from closing the distance between him and herself.
Ryoga blushed furiously before shaking his head, evading an attack from Ukyo as if it were nothing. "That's none of your business!" he shouted, seeing a weaknesses in her defense Ryoga charged forward, back handing Ukyo's fighting utensil once close enough and right when he was within striking distance, a dart came flying by, jumping back as quickly as possible Ryoga yet again, managed to avoid Kodachi's darts, unfortunately the same couldn't be said about Ukyo's spatula.
"Hiya!" Ukyo shouted, swinging with as much force and speed as she could muster.
A loud clanking sound was emitted from Ukyo's attack as it sent him flying towards the nearest wall. The resulting impact caused debris to kick up, meaning his body had meant a dent.
Kodachi saw this was the perfect moment to end him. "Finally Ranma's mine!" Kodachi declared, firing one more dart. A grunting noise could be heard as the dart entered the clouded wall crater, when the smoke settled Ryoga could be seen planted into the wall, the wall surviving the impact with a Ryoga shaped dent on it.
"Ranma doesn't belong to you..." Ryoga said, his voice taking on a grave tone, clearly enraged by Kodachi's statement. Upon further inspection, they noticed that Kodachi missed, Ryoga's head having shifted when he was in the smoke, but had he not moved his head, his cheek would have been hit by the dart.
"Hold still you cretin!" Kodachi demanded.
Ryoga focused on his anguished feelings, all the pain, all the humiliation, the loneliness and finally... his broken heart. The lost boy extended his arms out, clenching his fists he crossed his arms in an 'X' formation.
Ukyo's eyes widened when she realized which stance that was, but rather than panicking in fear she turned to Kodachi and shouted the following. "Load the dart gun! He's open!"
Ryoga seemed to be gathering energy and hoped he could land this on time, if not, who knows what they'd do to him. Be it death or humiliating him, he wasn't going to lose to these two, he just couldn't have it. 'Come on, just a little more...!' Ryoga thought, gritting his teeth.
Kodachi immediately fumbled to get her tranquilizer gun ready, seeing the sight of red energy gathering in Ryoga's hand frightened her a bit, but upon reaching for a new dart she noticed that her hidden carrying case appeared to be empty, she responded to that as anyone in their situation would. "I've run out!" she screamed, shocked.
Ukyo was expecting this to be a quick process and now that Ryoga had intentionally made himself vulnerable that should make taking him down all the easier, that was until Kodachi found out they had no ammunition. "Wha!?" Ukyo shouted in shock, having very little time a beam of red energy shot towards them.
"Shishihokodan!"
The first to defend themselves was Ukyo, using her spatula to deflect some of the damage, only some as she, along with Kodachi, went crashing through the wall opposite of Ryoga, causing debris to kick up like a small but fast airplane, crash landing. Ryoga fell to his knees for a moment, having really pushed his ki to release faster than usual. 'Damn it... that was too much noise, Ranma... please, don't come...' he thought, using all the will power he could gather, he stood up and began to run away from the attack site.
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Akane, Kasumi & Nabiki
The three siblings sat around the dinning room table, Nabiki sitting directly across from Akane while Kasumi sat to the right side of the table, her hands held together in her lap. Nabiki continued to explain while Akane sat there and took the information in slowly, hearing about how this whole thing got started and how involved the middle sister actually was, which earned a look of shock from Kasumi, expecting for Akane to lash out right there but instead Nabiki was allowed to continue.
"And that's about it in a nutshell..." Nabiki sighed, closing her eyes, surprised that Akane had taken this all so well. Though Nabiki felt that way, that wasn't exactly the case, Kasumi felt a sweat drop form on her head, Kasumi knew better than to expect a peaceful reply from Akane. "I gotta' say, Akane... I was expectin' you ta' grab the table or something."
"Akane!" Kasumi shouted, latching onto Akane's torso as to keep her from crushing Nabiki with the dinning room table.
"How could you!?" Akane demanded, trying to get a good angle on Nabiki without harming Kasumi.
Nabiki 's pupils went as thin as pin needles, her mouth hanging slightly agape. "A-Akane, come on, I was just-" she said, trying to get a word in edge-wise, but finding it difficult to focus as Akane was going to redecorate the dinning room table... over her head.
"P-please!Akane! Nabiki wouldn't survive being hit by a table!" Kasumi pleaded, keeping Akane from getting that perfect angle on Nabiki.
Nabiki dragged herself across the floor, until her back was up against the wall. "A-Akane! T-think about this!" Nabiki urged, using the hand gesture for stopping.
There was a brief pause, Akane's facial expression still very much infuriated. Nabiki knew that this chance wouldn't last long, being that Akane had a abnormally short fuse, she continued. "Think about how long this has been goin' on! Why does it take nearly losing Ranma for you to do something!?" Nabiki questioned, leaning onto the wall, somewhat paralyzed in fear.
Akane lowered her head and found a blush forming on her face, being reminded how obvious her attraction to Ranma was, not that she entirely denied them but she really didn't want the word getting out in this manner. "Argh! Shut up!" she exclaimed, closing her eyes, really fighting off the temptation to bring the table down on her sister.
There was little Nabiki could do in this situation, if she moved she'd be at just the right angle for Akane to hit her, but before she could truly think about her next course of action, it seemed as the fates had granted her some more time on earth, for a second later a loud booming sound came echoing throughout the area.
Both Akane and Kasumi's eyes widened as the shock waves caused the ground to shake quite a bit. The two looked over their shoulders as they looked towards the backyard porch, seeing as the door was open they saw plumes of smoke ascending to the sky, Akane's first thought was that something happened while Ranma was going after Ryoga. 'Argh! I'm not losing my chance this time!' Akane thought right after dropping the table, sparing Nabiki; for the moment. Akane was going to make her voice heard, even if she had to win Ranma over somehow, she couldn't allow her uncertainly to get the best of her, now was the time to use her angry confidence for something other than bashing Ranma's head with comfortable furniture.
Nabiki sighed in relief as she no longer had a table looming over her head, "This is what I get for having a conscious..." she commented to herself.
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Ranma
Soon after Ryoga's departure Ranma was left to her thoughts, 'Is it really so bad...?' Ranma thought with a sigh, digging her hands into her pockets she continued to walk at a brisk pace, wondering what she'd do from now on. Would she just go back to the Nermia experience? Expecting wacky situations to arise and then deal with them accordingly until one day she has to actually sit down and decide who she wants to spend her life with? Or at least she could have an attempt at the Nerima lifestyle, since Ryoga did make up some part of it. 'Hell... pig-butt kept things interesting around here.' Ranma pondered her thought and came to realize that she wasn't even putting her all when making fun of Ryoga.
All throughout this Ranma suddenly found the concrete floor more interesting, for there was an empty feeling in her chest, a void which had no end, one of lose. It was that half-hearted feeling that keep Ranma from resorting to her usual tactics, which were to complain and act like nothing ever happened, but something did happen, Ranma was reacting to Ryoga's pure, raw emotion. As much as Ranma wanted to deny it, there was something between them, something more than just a strange friendship. The red-headed martial artist shook her head, she had made a choice anyways, she couldn't give up all that Akane and her had been through, how would that look? 'Be-besides, how can I know Akane ain't the one for me, if I don't even try it?' Ranma thought, feeling shallow, but if to only further than situation Ranma began to ponder what it would be like to be romantically involved with Ryoga. Ranma knew there would be a lot of competition between them, but also something else... something more than words could describe. It was this feeling of attraction, but it wasn't sexually driven and maybe that feeling was the one responsible for all their intimate moments, whether accidental or because Ryoga would let him emotions and or instincts get the better of him. It was then that a memory returned to Ranma, one where Ranma's own words came back to bite him, the time he had found that Panda spirit that he tried to get into his father's panda form, but still ended up falling for her/him. That if she was in love with anyone, she wouldn't care what they were like. Did that also apply to his view on orientation? Wouldn't falling for Ryoga, that means her sexuality would fall under... gay? There was of course the fact that she did have a female form, but would that mean if she ended up with Ryoga she'd be living a sham of a relationship? 'You don't know that...' a voice in the back of Ranma's head told her.
Ranma's defenses acted the moment that voice passed, "Come on... I-I'm a guy, and bein' a girl around him would just be me lying to myself, right?" Ranma mumbled to herself. "R-right?" Ranma asked no one in particular. 'Really? What if that's exactly what you want?' Ranma's inner voice asked. With that question Ranma's mind drifted to the time their lips made contact, the feeling of bliss that came with the kiss, that made her heart tingle. 'Argh! Damn it! So what if I like him! I'll get over it! Like he said right... he'll move on, everything that happened will just-just... pass!' Ranma thought, squinting eyes shut. The thought of never seeing Ryoga again, well, it hit Ranma hard.
Before Ranma could continue her internal debate she felt the ground beneath her began to shake. "Wha?" Ranma wondered as a familiar sound rang in her ears, the sound of Ryoga shouting his ki blast. "R-Ryoga!?" Ranma asked, looking in said direction before dashing off towards it, intent on talking to him, maybe convincing him to stay. That thought alone was enough to make made the red-head dash towards Ryoga, she wasn't sure what she was going to say exactly what she wanted to but she knew she had to get there.
The four combatants laid in defeat, Soun and Genma resting in the same spot since the tranquilizer hit them and Ukyo and Kodachi at the very end of the crater that Ryoga's attack created. Bits of stone from each wall that Ryoga's ki blast came across began to crumble as their structural foundations had been compromised.
Ranma arrived only to see the aftermath of Ryoga's wrath. It only confirmed one thing though, Ryoga was in miserable, the gaping holes spanning across several walls was a clear indication. Ranma could only imagine the levels of sorrow Ryoga must have been enduring, but what came as a little flattering was that all this, was for her, which in turn made her blush slightly.
"Uh..." Genma groaned, mouth hanging open as a small pool of drool was underneath him.
Ranma looked towards her father and grabbed him by his collar. "Hey! Snap outta' it old man!" Ranma demanded, shaking him.
He could only respond with the following, "Dwha...?" he muttered as a smile spread across his face.
Ranma groaned as she dropped him, earning a groan of pain from him. 'Damn it... I was too late...' she thought as she closed her eyes and averted her gaze from her father. Now Ranma was only staring at the ground, wondering what would have happened had she actually caught up with Ryoga. Would she go back on what she said and attempt a fake relationship with Ryoga or would she have resorted to her previous tactic of having him as a friend? All these things scared Ranma, because now, more than ever, she was confused and had no outlet in which to take out her frustration, so, she stood in silence.
"Ranma...?" A voice called out to her, a certain voice that belonged to a certain blue haired girl.
Ranma looked over her shoulder to see Akane, she averted her eyes, feeling guilty around her, almost as if she had cheated on her or had nearly done so. Luckily for her, Akane probably hadn't noticed that and more than likely took her sorrow for something else.
"What happened, Ranma?" Akane asked, wondering if Ranma and Ryoga had some sort of fight and the others were merely causalities, that were foolish enough to intervene.
"I don't know, Akane... I don't know..." Ranma replied, gaining an even more timid expression as she stared into space.
Akane tenderly made her way over to Ranma, almost as if she was afraid to startle her, she reached her hand out and placed it on Ranma's shoulder, the girl flinched, but only for a second before calming down. The blue haired girl figured that she'd chance it, so, she extended both of her arms out and brought Ranma into an embrace.
This came as a surprise to Ranma, but soon after she closed her eyes and returned the embrace. The two sat in relative silence, Akane for her part enjoying the fact that Ranma dropped her defenses enough to actually have a moment with her, for Ranma's part, she was mostly thinking about how she could tell Akane that she choose her, but finding no easy way to do so, she decided that perhaps being honest for once would get things rolling... and this was, her choice.
"Akane, he's gone because... he made me choose..." Ranma whispered, her voice soft and somewhat frail sounding.
"Huh?" Akane wondered, feeling a blush creep up on her face.
"I picked you, Akane..."
Akane said nothing, she found her eyes going wide, she was delighted to know that she hadn't lost her chance with Ranma. Though that was the case, she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it at the moment, they had just lost a friend, so, she opted for bringing Ranma back into the embrace.
As Ranma was being held, she stared off into space again, wondering, what could have been, had she given Ryoga his romantic opportunity.
'Ryoga...'
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Ryoga
Sometime had gone by, the night stars twinkling over Ryoga's head like little flashlights. From the look of things, Ryoga hadn't stopped running for quite sometime now and was obviously doing so with reckless abandonment as his clothes appeared to be tattered and torn in various places. "Damn!" he shouted, jumping over a log, but when doing so his head brushed along a low hanging tree branch, catching his bandanna. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Ryoga cried, his voice crackling.
This was it, there was nothing binding him to Nerima, neither Akane nor Ranma wanted him. All Ryoga wanted to do was to fade into obscurity, vanish from existence so that he could no longer be plagued by his feelings. The fang toothed boy was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed a second low hanging tree branch, this one was raised high enough to collide with Ryoga's chest.
"Ugh!" Ryoga screamed, not from physical pain but from the sudden shock. Using his hands the lost boy stood up on all fours and held that position for awhile, with his head held low, tears fell freely from his eyes before whispering the following line.
"Ranma..."
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DaisukiFox~