RYOGA'S GIRLFRIEND

CHAPTER TEXT

Ryoga's Girlfriend Ch13

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Ranma ½ is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media, please support the official release.

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Ranma

Ranma's gaze was on the center of the floor in front of her, her own words dancing around in her head, repeating themselves like echoes in a cave. Occasionally taking deeper than usual breaths, blushing lightly from the aftermath of her revelation. The fear, the anger, this irritation she knew she'd have to live with. She tightened her jaw as to suppress any signs of weakness, her head tilted down as she found her thoughts centered around Ryoga. Every time Ranma pictured being with Ryoga, she couldn't help but feel that Ryoga would act as he always does, loud and constantly jumping the gun. Well, Akane is like that too, however, that didn't mean she didn't have her good side. 'Just like Ryoga...' Ranma thought, realizing a theme here. Was Ranma's mom like that? Well, Ranma's mother had no idea she was actually her son and not Ranko but what if she was interested in another man?

It worried the redheaded martial artist, 'Oh man... she's going to make me...' she thought, almost feeling like crying not just from the fact that Ranma knew she would never get to spend time with her mother again, but also by the fact that it'd be by Nodoka's hand. 'What kinda' messed up world do I live in!?' Rama thought, hands to either side of her head.

Here she was again, feeling caged, Ranma, however, would rather be actually caged, so that she could break free. Ranma sighed heavily, mostly from mental exhaustion. Usually, all Ranma had to do was wait for a someone to challenge her and she'd take care of them, deal with Akane and the other maniacs from their district. Now she had to deal with her own feelings of attachment, attachments towards a certain fang-toothed boy. Though Ranma portrayed a person who clearly wanted to be over with her thoughts, that was simply not the case in her head. It had only slowed down.

Ranma's head drooped, showing clear signs of fatigue as her demeanor began to relax, her eyes slowly beginning to close, until popping open for a second, only for them to start closing again.

'Ranma Saotome... I love you...'

Dream Sequence

A somewhat fogged over version of Nerima was all Ranma could see as she walked on the path to the Tendo residence, hands in pockets as she appeared to be deep in thought, however in her dream state her thoughts were as fogged over as the area around her. However, she paid little mind to that detail as she was mostly in a daze, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. 'Wha...? Wha? What was I doin'?' she thought, taking a moment to place one of her palms over her eye.

"Ranma Saotome!" A masculine voice shouted, nothing more than a silhouette atop a nearby roof.

Ranma looked up to the figure, squinting her eyes before seeing the figure drop down, landing in a kneeling position to reveal that it was Ryoga Hibiki. "You've turned my life into a living hell, Saotome!"

Ranma acted on pure feeling as her mind recalled these past engagements with Ryoga, she leaped backward, preparing herself for the fight to come. "Heh..." Ranma gave a coy smirk, "What's your beef now?" Ranma asked, a Cheshire smile following her question. "Or should I say, pork?"

"Save your lame ass jokes for someone who cares!" Ryoga replied, throwing his arm out to his side, his other being clenched near his was hip.

Ranma's dropped her wide smile, feeling rather cocky in her abilities, ushered for him to come hither by raising her open palm and curving her hand towards herself, giving Ryoga a look that said 'Bring it'.

The two began to exchange blows, Ranma ducking, and weaving as she allowed Ryoga to take the lead. However, in Ranma's mind they appeared to be doing a copy and paste of a previous battle between the two martial artists, 'Wow... déjà vu' Ranma thought, then started piecing some thoughts together, like, what was she even doing before this? Then as if to remind Ranma that she was in a battle, Ryoga gained the upper hand and kicked the poor red-head into a wall, the pain from having been slammed into one not actually appearing, in fact, the pain from the kick hadn't done anything aside from sending her flying in her own dream. 'Wait! I was!' Ranma thought in a hurried tone, as a brief instance of her most recent thoughts popped into her mind, which was her contemplation on her feelings on Ryoga.

Faster than Ranma could even blink, Ryoga's hands were now firmly gripping Ranma's shoulders, pinning her to the wall behind her. Her eyes widened as her look became that of a frantic woman's, her heart racing as she was confronted by those familiar feelings, when she looked into Ryoga's eyes, she was met by a look of pure sorrow. "Why do you keep running from me, Saotome, isn't that supposed to be my thing?"

Ranma's pupils trembled as she was faced with her reality, even in her dreams, she couldn't run away. All she could do was stand there, frozen and lost in her thoughts, which in Ranma's mind could only be described as the incoherent ramblings of a madman.

"Stop caring so much about your precious ego! Start living your life for yourself! And if they tell you otherwise Saotome, do you know what you tell them!?" Ryoga asked, a fire clearly Ryoga's eyes as he spoke.

Ranma could feel this burning, Ryoga's dream words reaching out to her or rather Ranma's own inner thoughts were. "Go to hell!"

Ryoga watched as Ranma held her hands to her sides, fists clenched to the point they were as pale as ghosts, head casted down as she weighed all that was being said to her, the anxiety in her chest fluctuating between accepting her feelings or fighting them, which alleviated her chest, however when Ranma's thoughts of doubt resurfaced, the panic in her chest would raise.

Ranma was able to gauge how these feelings worked and was forced to accept the truth, she as Ranma Saotome, wanted to embrace this brave new concept.

"Ranma Saotome...I love you..."

Ranma's squinted her eyes shut before she grits her teeth, grinding her teeth before shouting. "Argh! Fine!" she exclaimed, pressing her lips to her dream Ryoga's, her arms reaching around Ryoga, embracing him as if it were their last.

End Dream Sequence

Ranma sat up from her futon and looked around her room, noticing Genma in his usual spot, snoring lightly. She panted deeply as she tried to collect her thoughts, from what she could tell, she must have had a disturbing dream if she was panting and not only that, she swore she felt something else. "Huh?" Ranma looked to her palm as she noticed that it was covered in a cold sweat. "What was I...?" she paused to question, her eyes slowly going wide.

"Ranma Saotome... I love you..."

Ranma's eye twitched as she heard Ryoga's voice echo those words said in her dreams. The message quite clear to the Saotome prodigy, she was in love.

Ranma groaned and picked up her pillow, smothering her face in it, and falling back into her futon.

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Ranma & Akane

The chain link fence, often associated with the walkway to the Tendo household, wobbled like a wet noodle as Ranma's feet landed on it. Ranma brought her hands behind head, having a head in the clouds, sort of look to her. The red-head knew that the air between Akane and herself was thick. What was she supposed to do? Ranma, much to her dismay, knew that what she felt for Ryoga went further than just friends and although she was aware of it, what she supposed to do? Find Ryoga and tell him how she felt? Ryoga was already gone and chances were, he would vanish for another long while. Ranma found herself thinking about all the time that Ryoga and she had kissed, however, now it was more like a pleasant daydream than a sudden abrupt thought.

Ranma indulged herself, causing a blush to appear on her face, unknowingly allow a smile to form on her face. Even finding it somewhat humorous that someone like her can like someone like Ryoga.

Akane walked in calm silence, her eyes aimed towards the ground. Was this what she wanted? Ranma pretty much offered himself to her without any protest. 'Why do I care about so much about that jerk? Is it because of...' Akane thought, shutting her eyes, feeling the familiar sting of tears welling up in her eyes.

If Akane were to see herself right now, she'd compare herself to a turtle hiding in its shell. The fear of Ranma discovering her distress and possibly linking it to the prospect of them was too much for her to bare right now; given her mental state. However, she was only greeted with a loud thudding sound as she heard Ranma land on her head.

Akane's first instinct was to check on her but instead realized that Ranma had suffered far worse and was only letting her mental distress cloud her judgment. This enabled her jealousy to raise to the surface of her thoughts, figuring that whatever caused Ranma to fall off the edge was the redhead's feelings towards Ryoga.

She successfully fought her feelings off and proceeded to walk to school.

Ranma upon landing on her head. had only herself to blame because she had gotten so caught up in her thoughts of Ryoga, that she ended up walking off the end of the fence. Immediately she found herself expecting Akane to come to her aid, this scared her, however, she saw that Akane did no such thing, but rather she decided not to even bother.

This prompted some mixed signals from Ranma, knowing that Akane's reaction to all this was clearly relevant to the day prior.

Ranma sighed, feeling a mixture of anxiety, fear, shame, and loss. Shame in the sense that she had been indulging her feelings towards Ryoga, openly to herself, only to have it be the cause of an embarrassing moment between her and Akane.

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Tofu's Office

The light humming of medical equipment filled the air. Ukyo resting on her back while her heart rate monitor was beeping in the background. She began to stir, overwhelming feelings urging her to wake. "Ugh..." Ukyo groaned with a grit of her teeth, her eyes opening as if they weighed more than usual.

Just beyond the door to the room there a was shifting about, clear signs of urgency as Doctor Tofu came rushing in. "Ukyo! Please! Don't move in your condition!" Tofu exclaimed, now at the chef's bedside, applying a fair amount of pressure to Ukyo's shoulders.

"To-Tofu?" Ukyo asked, getting a nod and smile from the good doctor.

"That's right," he said. "Please calm down, we wouldn't want you to re-open your wounds, would we?" he asked, smiling and hoping that Ukyo would get the message and not rise.

"Wounds?" Ukyo asked meekly, feeling a quite drowsy for some reason.

"That's right, I got a call from Akane, thankfully for you, she didn't press charges." Doctor Tofu smiled, looking to the drowsy girl. "Anyways, Ms. Ukyo, you were struggling for a good while after your procedure, so I had to sedate you."

Ukyo may not have known much about the medical field but what she did what it meant to sedate someone. "But... Ranma... Ryoga..." she attempted to rise once more.

Doctor Tofu found himself thinking for a moment, wondering what she specifically meant when saying those two names, he was of aware what Ranma's role in the situation could possibly be but Ryoga's remained a bit mystery when it came to Ukyo's knowledge on the matter. 'What happened since my last talk with Ryoga?' Doctor Tofu thought. 'It'll have to wait...' he thought, as he reached out for a nearby needle.

"I'm sorry, Ukyo, I can't risk letting you open your wounds..." he stated, injecting the Okonomiyaki chef with a smaller dose of the sedative.

Ukyo found her vision blurring again falling back asleep. Doctor Tofu sighed as he really didn't want to subject his patients this kind of treatment, but he knew that if he didn't, Ukyo would try to be up and about, risking her own life.

He looked to the nearby medical table and saw the glass fragments he had pulled out from her. 'Why would you go so far, Ukyo? It looked like you were fighting with shards embedded in you skin... some even appeared to have been shoved in.' Tofu thought, allowing his head to sink downwards.

Truly sorry that the people surrounding Ranma were desperate enough to risk their own well-being over someone who didn't fully acknowledge their feelings.

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Furinkan High

Ranma casually walked down the halls during a return trip from the restroom, as indicated by the men's room symbol behind him. Ranma kept his hands in his pockets the entire time, a perplexed look to his face as he wondered about his next course of action, should he just ignore these feelings of affection for Ryoga and continue with Akane?

It wasn't as though there wasn't anything there for her, how couldn't there be? The two had gone through so much and even having actual romantic confrontations, but Ryoga introduced himself as an alternate variable. There was already no denying his feelings on that, no matter how much his scowl implied otherwise. Ranma seized his thoughts as the sound of squeaking footwear was heard in the halls, tearing him from his thoughts.

Shampoo's form could be seen dashing from roof top to roof top, Ryoga quickly in tow. However just far enough to make his presence unknown to her, that was, however, until Ryoga miscalculated the trajectory of his jump and ended up landed in someone's backyard, his eyes bugging out in a cartoon-like fashion; landing specifically in a bush.

Akane stood directly in front of the pig-tailed boy, a look of shock on her face as she stood there, eyes locked with Ranma's. For what felt like an eternity, they stared in silence until Ranma awkwardly raised his hand and waved, his eyes averted to the side. There was no response from Akane, she only lowered her head and walked off in the opposite direction.

Ranma watched in relative silence before figuring that now wasn't the time, but honestly, what did he expect with what he had last said to her?

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Campsite

A very short while after Shampoo's departure Kuno could be seen making his way over to the campfire, yawning as he did afterward he noticed Shampoo's absence. "Hmm... I say, Lady Cologne, where is the fair Shampoo?" Kuno asked, his head darting from left to right.

"Your dearest Shampoo is after Ranma, yet again..." Cologne said bluntly, stirring the cooking pot in front of her.

A devastated look went across Kuno's face, before becoming one of rage, his jaw tightening at the mention of the wicked Saotome. On top of that, Shampoo was trying to get to him. However, would have none of that.

"That vile cretin! How dare Saotome use his villainous spells upon my fair Shampoo! Does his greed know no end!?" Kuno shouted, clenching his hands to his sides. All the while, Cologne paused from her stirring and as Kuno went on, with how Kuno was acting, she knew there'd be no hope for them.

"Silence!" Cologne shouted as she bashed Kuno over the head with her cane, a vein throbbing on her head as she stood before the huddled over sword user. "Child, I have seen many a fools in my life and I have to say, you are by far, one the most delusional, arrogant, self-centered man I've ever seen!"

Kuno gripped his head as Cologne spoke to him like this, yet again, but he couldn't understand why she'd hit him all of a sudden, especially with how she had been pushing for him and Shampoo to become an item, that, however, perished as Cologne explained herself.

Cologne sighed as she began, "Kuno child, I know you two have a strange thing going on, though, you must understand returning to your old ways will not garner my great-granddaughter's attention," Cologne stared at Kuno for a bit. "As much as I didn't want to interfere with a budding relationship, I've grown tired of waiting for you both, so I will simply give you the answer."

There was no response from Kuno, as he remained silent for this moment, mostly in fear of being struck again but also because he honestly wanted to know how he could get Shampoo to be his woman; and only his woman.

"My great-granddaughter has grown fond of the man you've truly shown yourself to be, the one who treats her as though she were not some woman to be despised or catered to, but with a level of respect... I'm not saying change who you are, completely, in fact, I think she rather enjoys your manner of speech." Cologne said, trying to offer him a smile.

Cologne clearly had other motives behind her reasoning with Kuno, one being that if Kuno finally got his act together, Shampoo could more easily accept him into the family.

There was also the possibility of her becoming a matchmaker since she had just moments ago helped Ryoga, 'I seem to be attracting many foolish children lately, perhaps this was meant to be...' she thought, humming to herself afterward.

Without a word, Kuno rose from his position, a very strong look to his face as he dashed off in the direction of his high school, knowing very well that Ranma was there. Also knowing that he'd probably get in trouble for skipping class today. That meant very little to him, right now, his biggest priority was Shampoo, though as he kept running, however, he noticed that there was way too many things keeping him from getting back to Nermia. 'There must be a more effective way to clear this forest!' Kuno thought, his mind racing for answers, his mind finding the solution, but a scowl appeared on his face as he did so. 'I haven't much practice but...' Kuno thought, before leaping to a nearby tree and jumping from branch to branch until reaching the top, his eyes wide. "I can do this!" Kuno shouted, gulping shortly after as he leaped from tree to tree as quickly as he could.

Cologne watched Kuno as he ran off, lowering her head. "I wonder how long it'll be before these children learn to stay in one place..." Cologne commented. All of a sudden, there was a loud thudding sound as Sasuke fell, head first, from a nearby tree, his leg twitching like that of a flattened cockroach.

"Ow..." Sasuke groaned, his eyes twirling in the typical anime fashion.

"I told him sleeping on branches is a foolish idea... especially for a ninja of his caliber," Cologne said, shaking her head.

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Akane

Akane's thoughts drifted like clouds in the sky, she just couldn't bring herself to drown out her thoughts involving what Ranma had said. What was she? Some consolation prize for Ranma? Why else say what he did she figured.

"I already told you I picked you anyways! So just be happy with that!"

She mulled over her thoughts for what seemed like an eternity to her. Why was this so hard? Why wasn't Akane just the default choice? Hadn't they been through so much? Didn't she deserve to be with Ranma? After all this time? After all this tension between them? All their struggles to keep one another safe? What exactly did she mean to Ranma? Did Ranma want Ryoga now?

The blue haired girl picked up a nearby history book she was supposed to be using for studying, but rather than using it for its intended purpose she merely clung to it, using it as a way to release her anger, squeezing it in her palms, 'Ranma... what am I to you?' she thought, sulking now as she opened it to continue her lesson.

Akane stared at the page in front of her, finding the pictures involving historical figures looking strikingly similar to Ranma. 'Do I love him...? Do I honestly love him or am I obsessing over him, like Tofu?' her inner voice questioned.

The blue haired girl allowed those words to sink in, finding it somewhat difficult to believe that her feelings for Ranma could be compared to what she felt for Tofu.

There were moments between her and Tofu she liked, but she felt that it was because Tofu wasn't like the other boys around her, he was different. He was considerate, but there was no real growth between them as a couple. She still didn't know much about Tofu, whereas, with Ranma, the situation was different, there was time between them, a need to protect one another, even if the situation became dire.

Though could she really accept this relationship if she was only keeping Ranma from truly being happy? Would Ranma be happier being with Ryoga? These thoughts caused Akane's head to drop, casting a shadow over her eyes a single tear dropped down the side of her cheek.

Akane, however, wasn't alone, Nabiki stood nearby, arms crossed with her head tilted up. Knowing quite well the reason for her sister's distress. 'Ah... great... I pick now of all times to grow a conscious.' Nabiki thought to herself, sighing silently enough for Akane not to hear.

Chances were, though, Akane still wouldn't have caught that.

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki spoke out, catching her sister's attention.

Akane's posture straightened as she wiped her eyes with her forearm, somewhat panicking from the prospect of being caught crying in the school library. "What?" Akane asked, misery dripping from her tone, like maple, slow and thick.

"Ranma's still there, but he won't be unless you learn how to talk to him without biting his head off or ignoring the things that make you wrong, guys like him can't hide from everything if you're totally and completely honest," Nabiki said, now standing up straight and facing her sister's back.

Akane sat there, letting her sister speak, absorbing the advice given to her, however, she didn't have it in her to really say anything in return. Chances were, Nabiki said something Akane was failing to notice and was too in shock to really say anything.

Nabiki's head raised a bit as she noticed the grinding noise her sister's chair made when Akane abruptly stood up, before leaving.

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Ranma

Ranma traveled along the walkway from gym class, having some time to spare when it came to changing out of his uniform, mostly cause he didn't really break much of a sweat, such were the benefits of being a martial artist that could defy the laws of physics(What? You guys know it's true.). Ranma found himself thinking about how life used to be before all this chaos ensued, which he came to realize was probably more chaotic. Did all these events with Ryoga somehow reduce the overall chaos in his life?

Lost in his thoughts, Ranma was unable to notice a strange purple blur dropping some odd, ball shaped things before running towards him.

"Ranma!" Shampoo shouted as she leaped forward, wrapping her arms around the pig-tailed boy's midriff, clinging to him like a scarf.

"Shampoo!?" Ranma gasped as Shampoo's forward momentum caused Ranma to fall back, landing on his butt. "Hey! Calm down!" Ranma said, shouting in a hushed tone as to keep people from gathering. He noticed that instead of trying to make a move, she instead nuzzled her head into his chest. There was a small pause as he finally noticed her aura, it practically oozed with depression ki.

Ranma took a second to recognize this, however, knew that get getting involved would only lead to issues so he resorted to his previous lie to her, "Shampoo look!" Ranma exclaimed, grabbing her by her biceps and holding her at arms length, bring them to a standing position, Shampoo sniffling like some sort of toddler.

"I told you, I'm-" Ranma began only to stop.

"No is true!" Shampoo shouted, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Shampoo know Ranma no is with stupid-boy! Shampoo know Ranma no is with stupid-boy because Shampoo hear it from stupid-boy!"

Ranma blushed and knew the gig was, in a sense, up. However, that also brought him to another conclusion, did she just say that she heard it from Ryoga? That in and of itself caused Ranma to feel a sense of joy, which was outwardly expressed as a look of shock, as Ranma swore he felt a flutter in his chest, accompanied with a light lack of breath. Ranma was unable to press for more information as Shampoo embraced him yet again, showing that she was still in distress.

"Shampoo no like Kuno! Kuno is weak and stupid, Kuno no make sense!" Shampoo shouted as she clung to Ranma's midriff again.

Ranma didn't know how to take this, all he could do was allow her to hold onto him but even then he didn't want to do that for her, there was a reason he often avoided her advances. There was also the fact that whenever Shampoo or anyone showed up to bother Ranma, they always drew a crowd, crowds that often spoke amongst one another, spreading the word of whatever Ranma had to deal with.

"Ranma!?" Akane shouted in surprise, seeing only Ranma's back and a pair of hands looping around behind Ranma's back, Ranma looking over his shoulder, just far enough for Shampoo to be visible to Akane.

The pig-tailed boy stood there, frozen in place, his eyes in shock as if expecting Akane to lash out at him again. However, there was no immediate response, instead, Akane appeared to be deep in thought, more people gathering to watch how Akane would react. There were even some members of Akane's betting pool there, eagerly awaiting Akane's foretold confession.

Nabiki also stood in the crowd, one arm crossed while the other was kept a closed hand near her mouth, a cold and calculating expression on her face, 'The ball's in your park now, Akane... what're you gonna' do?' Nabiki thought, then looked around and noticed the members of her betting pools, when she came across Daisuke she noticed him smirking at her, giving her a look of victory, Nabiki narrowed her eyes, biting her thumbnail.

Akane for her part resorted to clenching her hands near her sides, however, found that she couldn't bring herself to shout at Ranma. It was as though her voice was caught in her throat because continuing would mean that everyone in the school would know exactly how the Tendo girl feels about Ranma, that caused Akane's expression to be somewhat restrained.

"Ranma, I-I-I... you... I mean..." Akane tried to continue, however, found her eyes drifting down to the ground as she saw everyone's eyes on her. Akane found that her feelings were far too mixed to actually confess right out, also, she didn't want to destroy the chances of them possibly getting together, especially not after all they'd gone through recently.

The purple-haired amazonian sensed this and felt the need to interrupt, this was until someone else did the job for her.

"Fairest Shampoo! I know that the foul sorcerer has claimed you from a distance!" Kuno exclaimed, panting just the slightest bit, the journey for him being quite long. This earned him a chorus of groans from the audience, also some looks of intrigue as the prospect of Kuno defending Shampoo from Ranma earned some looks.

It even caught the attention of a certain brown haired business women, 'Well, well, what do we have here?' Nabiki thought, watching how everyone reacted to Kuno's sudden appearance.

"Hey wait! I didn't do anything!" Ranma shouted, trying to shove Shampoo away from him, however, she clung onto him harder and even buried her face in his chest, getting a look from Akane and rousing Kuno's anger.

"Lies! Unhand her you-" Kuno began, drawing his bokken, in a moment where Ranma was somewhat unable to move as freely as he'd like, given his current girl shaped accessory around his chest.

"Shampoo no like Kuno!" Shampoo exclaimed, pulling her head out from Ranma's midriff.

Kuno took a step back as his eyes widened, feeling a sting to his heart. Under normal circumstances, Kuno's mental barriers would come and protect his precious ego, however, his time with Cologne had taught him to listen more carefully, Kuno shook that feeling off and attempted to push the idea that Ranma was forcing Shampoo via magical spells. "Do you feel no remorse? Sorcerer!"

The bokken wielder's momentary pause did not go unnoticed by Ranma, Akane, and even Nabiki, their thoughts synchronized the following, 'Did Kuno just...!?'

"No is magic! Shampoo no like crazy man!" Shampoo shouted, now releasing Ranma enough to just stare down The Blue Thunder, who at the moment appeared to be more like a spark than any real thunder.

Kuno with his head held down, his hair shadowed his eyes as he stood there, looking as though he were a statue before taking his bokken and sheathing it. That caused the crowd to stare in amazement, had Kuno actually given a sane response to someone rejecting his signs of affection? This was all just so much to process for the group, Ranma, and Akane included.

"A thousand pardons, my-" Kuno started but instead choose to correct himself, "Lady Shampoo." Kuno finished with a somewhat hushed tone. There wasn't much Kuno could do if Shampoo was, in fact, unwilling to accept him. All he could do was pack his things back at the campsite and his ninja as well.

It felt as though a thousand needles pierced his chest, thanks to all the training with Cologne and Shampoo, Kuno had become more aware of the sad facade he called his life.

Shampoo watched as Kuno turned to leave, a defeated, shell of a man. Did she want that? She placed a closed palm near her heart and felt the ache associated with hurting someone's feelings. Particularly the feelings of someone she had, strangely enough, grown accustomed to. That allowed Shampoo to think back to their moments together, sure, they weren't anything like the fairytale romance she assumed she'd have with Ranma, but they were certainly there. Why else would she consider comforting him? Her head dropped as she forced herself to allow Kuno to leave.

The crowd watched as this came to a close, finding themselves suddenly losing interest as they really hadn't gathered to watch Shampoo and Kuno end up together. Daisuke lowered his head, having expected the focus to return to Ranma and Akane, however, as the crowd of students waited for Akane to somehow reignite their interests, she returned their looks with a look of anger, as if telling them to back off.

The students eventually dispersed, leaving Akane, Shampoo, and Ranma behind.

Nabiki relished in the fact that Akane and Ranma had yet to get together, mostly cause that meant that Daisuke couldn't smile triumphantly anymore. Was that pity? Yes. Did She care? Not really. Did that mean she never wanted Ranma and Akane to get together? Not really. She just doesn't like the feeling of someone having the upper hand on her. 'Hm... Kuno to the rescue.' Nabiki chuckled to herself as she left the scene.

Akane and Ranma looked towards one another before seeing Shampoo begin to somewhat cautiously walk towards Kuno's direction. As if having waited until the students needed to get back to class.

"Uh... I should go... class is starting..." Akane commented, gulping a bit. That, however, was probably an understatement as there was a large percentage of students that watched that whole thing, so chances were they all to some extent, going to get punished, 'Why do they always come during school... I hate having an audience!' Akane thought to herself as she was leaving, though, was somewhat grateful that she didn't have the whole school watching her love life unfold.

"Yeah..." Ranma uttered, at a bit of a loss.

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Ranma looked over his shoulder to see Akane leaving, not sure what to say at a moment like this. He wanted to reach out to her in some way, maybe even comfort her in some way, but found it difficult. Though found that he didn't know exactly what to say, causing him to sigh as he raised one hand up to scratch the side of his head, the other on his hip. What was holding him back? Even if he couldn't flat out help, Ranma still should have said something. What was causing this?

"Ranma..." a voice called out to him.

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Ryoga

Ever since Ryoga lost track of Shampoo, the lost boy had struggled to find his way towards Ranma's highschool. Constant twists and turns, sometimes even running around in circles and sometimes literally running in circles only because he couldn't decide where to go, panic rising in his chest as he would only find himself right back where he started.

"Where the hell is it!?" Ryoga shouted, throwing his head up in frustration. He thought to himself, placing his hands to the sides of his head, covering his ears, as if to drown out the distractions of the world, 'Think Ryoga! Think! What do I do, to get to Ranma!?' Ryoga thought, knowing by this point Shampoo had probably reached Ranma by now. Ryoga envisioned Shampoo from earlier, focusing in on that memory, searching for anything that could help. Then it struck him, the school was visible by that point. It actually stood out as taller than all the rest.

"That's it!" Ryoga shouted, jumping back to the rooftops and checking out the area before catching sight of the school. Feeling a little ashamed with how close it had been this entire time.

"I hate my curse..." Ryoga mumbled as his face went a little flat, but regardless of the fact, he was still going to get to Ranma, dashing towards it, he leaped from rooftop to rooftop before making one large and final leap, landing on school grounds. From there Ryoga looked around and ran through the school grounds, catching a few people's eyes along the way. Though it seemed as though they didn't pay him much mind, as Ryoga had a history of sometimes just coming to see Akane.

He kept going until he saw Ranma, along with Akane just standing there, the lost boy instinctually hiding behind a corner and watched from afar, 'What happened to Shampoo...?' Ryoga pondered for a second before dismissing that idea, whatever worked he figured.

Ryoga watched Akane leave, taking that as his opportunity, his goal was different. He casually strolled over to Ranma until he was standing before his object of affection.

"Ranma..."

Ranma's eyes widened as he froze in place, resembling a concert statue. "R-Ryoga?" Ranma questioned, his mouth partially agape as the Saotome prodigy went through various feelings all at once. Then some particular memories came rushing into his mind, like the one from his most recent dream, the image of Ryoga with a longing look in his eyes.

Ryoga gave no reply, he simply met Ranma's eyes. "Ranma, there's something I have to tell you-"

Ranma felt the unbearable need to avoid confrontation with Ryoga, so he took a battle stance, "What, you here for a rematch, huh?" Ranma said, not actually sounding as if he were into it.

"Saotome, you know damn well, we're passed that part..." Ryoga took a step forward, although having said some hostile words, his tone didn't match that of someone intending to force Ranma into a conversation.

Ranma blushed before averting his eyes, unsure of what to do really, was this really what he wanted? He was happy to see Ryoga, especially with how he had come to realize were his actual feelings for him, but, there was the uncertainty that Akane presented too. That only served to make the pig-tailed boy second guess himself. Ranma wanted to tell Ryoga that he already made his choice and that Ryoga should accept that, but found that he simply wasn't able to get the words out, his voice being caught in his throat to the point it felt as though it hurt.

Ryoga gulped as he noticed Ranma stand completely still, he was sure that Ranma remembered their last conversation but noticed Ranma being reserved with his expressions. The Lost Boy recalled Cologne's advice and noticed that Ranma appeared conflicted, even seeing Ranma trying to open his mouth to say something, only to have him close it and not say anything.

Ryoga blushed deeply and forced himself to get past these feelings of unease whenever it came to do romantic gestures to Ranma's male side.

"Ranma Saotome," Ryoga said, taking the last few steps he needed to be within Ranma's personal space, "I love you, no matter who or what you are," Ryoga confessed, "Even if it takes years off my life, even if it ends in cold bitter defeat, I won't stop until I know, for damn sure! That you'll never feel the same for me!"

Ranma went bugged eyed for a moment, realizing one thing here, he wasn't in his girl form, yet Ryoga had confessed to him, even more than that, might as well have said that he doesn't care that he's also a guy, "Damn it, pig-brain! Do you know what you're saying?" Ranma questioned, not sure exactly why he said what he did, his mind just instantly tried to defend itself from such a sudden change.

"I'm saying, if it wasn't clear enough for you, Saotome... I want you, curse and all!" he proclaimed before taking Ranma by the sides of his arms.

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Akane

The second Akane made it past the door to the hallway she breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the trauma of that situation had passed. Although Akane couldn't help but feel like a total coward when it came to being honest about her feelings, she was always a little shy in some regards but never allowed that to get the best of her, well, shy in when it came to someone she legitimately liked. Her foots steps echoed in the halls as she continued to walk, not even really close to her classroom. 'I know I'm probably gonna' be forced to stand outside...' Akane thought.

Those thoughts seized to bother her as she stopped, contemplating her next course of action. What should she do? Go to class or talk to Ranma while everyone was in busy? She was going to get punished anyways, might as well make it worth it and with that in mind she turned around and attempted to take her first step forward, but immediately became scared and stopped. "Come on..." she mumbled, placing her hand over her chest as she lowered her head. "I can do this..."

Akane suddenly turned to the direction of her classroom and began to walk, for three whole steps before stopping again, knowing the longer she stalled the closer Ranma would get to class. Finally setting a fire in her heart she lifted her head as a passion burned in her eyes, there was nothing that could stop her. She knew if she hurried she could catch Ranma and have that long awaited talk with him.

Sure Ryoga would still remain a factor, but at least she'd say her peace.

Akane rounded a bend before catching sight of Ranma and Ryoga, Ryoga taking Ranma by his arms.

"I'm saying, if it wasn't clear enough for you, Saotome... I want you, curse and all!"

Akane stood in horror as she stared, she reacted as quickly as she could to the site. "Stop!" Akane shouted catching their attention. This caused Ranma to pull away from Ryoga and hold his arms out, waving them defensively.

"It ain't what you think Akane!" Ranma claimed.

Akane wanted to just let Ranma derail the conversation like they always did, however, even she knew they were passed that point and now that her fellow students weren't interfering as much. She was able to get her courage back. "Do you really think this is the place for this?" Akane asked, looking to Ryoga, who only narrowed his eyes and looked around, starting to notice a few students talking amongst themselves and even probably going to tell the others about it.

Ranma stared in shock at Akane, taking a second to actually blink in shock, "Huh?"

Akane wanted to explain herself but found a blush forming on her face as she saw how Ranma was reacting to this, finally treating her as he had before. She averted her gaze from him and clasped her hands together. Neither were able to enjoy this awkward moment as Ryoga quickly grabbed each of them by their wrists and dragged them off somewhere they could talk in private, 'Damn, I was so close... well, I guess I knew it was coming to this,' Ryoga thought.

"Ah!" both Ranma and Akane screamed a little as Ryoga lead them.

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Shampoo & Kuno.

Kuno walked the streets near Furinkan High, a downtrodden look on his face as he had so easily surrendered Shampoo to Ranma. Though what else could he do? Shampoo was clearly afraid of him. In his mind, Shampoo was too far gone, so far that even if he tried going back to the way he used to treat her, chances were she'd still harbor feelings for Ranma, 'Tell me you old crone... how am I supposed to win her back... how!? If she won't even allow me to bask in her presence!?' Kuno thought, gritting his teeth, wondering what use was Cologne's advice now.

The bokken wielder was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Shampoo catching up to him, a worried expression on her face, she was finally within speaking distance. She felt that maybe he'd noticed and turn around, however, when he didn't, she found herself confused. Had she really done this to him? He appeared utterly destroyed by her refusal to even see him, but how, she wondered? Their relationship consisted mostly of spite and anger towards one another. Wasn't love supposed to be gaining the strongest man possible to better the tribe?Also making cutesy faces and speaking sweet nothings? Not to mention use any advantage they could over the one they wanted to be with? Yet, here she was, trying to stop him from leaving. Shampoo recalled the moment she saw Kuno withdraw from the challenge he had made to Ranma and even apologize, the way he spoke reminded her of the kind and the somewhat strange man she had gotten used to.

"Is stopping?" Shampoo said, making it seem like a question only due to her hesitation.

Kuno halted suddenly and thought that maybe he was hearing things, "Do mine ears deceive me?" he questioned, immediately looking over his shoulder to see Shampoo standing behind him.

Shampoo felt herself blushing as she saw that there were tear streakings on his face, it reminded Shampoo about how worried he had gotten when he first saw that she was going to fall downstream; in her cat form. Before she even knew what was going on she found herself in an embrace, one where Kuno had brought her head into his chest, nuzzling his head atop of hers while tears streamed down his face.

The bokken wielder all the while thinking that Cologne was right, he just needed to treat her as though he wasn't just trying to court her, but rather treat her as an equal, but as quickly as this had happened, it ended as Shampoo was seen elbowing his head, bring him to his knees. "Is too, too touchy!" she exclaimed, feeling a vein throb on her head.

This did little to stop Kuno, as he rose up from her strike to stand before her, smiling with a small lump on his head, that will for some reason vanish at a non-specific point, "Forgive me, I was simply overjoyed to see you." Kuno stated, smiling not as he would normally when being his usual insane self but rather one of a kind, sane, man.

Shampoo suddenly found herself experiencing something people having referred to, time and time again as, lover's perspective. The atmosphere around Kuno appeared to be a bit hazy, his facial features more, defined. Her only response to this was to go wide eyed and found herself blushing at the very idea of viewing Kuno this way, this haze was one she often associated with Ranma.

"Lady Shampoo..." the voice of the man before her said, his voice as gentle as his features were. However, in real life, they were more like a question being directed at her as Kuno could be seen wondering what was up with her.

"Lady Shampoo...?" Kuno asked, raising a brow as he noticed her expression was just wide-eyed and staring at him.

A period of silence befalls the two as Shampoo allowed this moment and sensation to take her, this lead to some interesting thoughts on her part, 'Is bad to kiss? No is Ranma...? Ranma no want kiss from Shampoo...' Shampoo thought, finally throwing caution to the wind, she was tired of giving kisses and not having it be returned! Well, for anyone she really liked! He was no Ranma, but he was the next best thing.

The blue thunder of Furinkan High suddenly found Shampoo hand's on his collar, his first response was to stare in fear as this could mean she was going to hit him. However, the look on her face said something else entirely, Shampoo blushed deeply and with a reluctant look she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Kuno's.

Shampoo tilted her head to the side and relaxed her hold on Kuno's collar, easing herself into it.

Tatewaki Kuno was speechless, seeing as his lips were pressed against someone else's, there really wasn't much he could do about that, nor did he want to. He relished the moment before returning Shampoo's kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist, like he's done so many times before in his dreams, granted those dreams often times did involve either Akane or Ranma's girl side, still, this was more than acceptable.

----------------------------------------

Ranma, Ryoga & Akane

The trio ran across school grounds until they were finally out, now officially ditching school; not like it was their first time anyways. Both Ranma and Akane now being hoisted off the ground with how fast Ryoga was going, clearly he had some things to get off his chest.

Eventually, they were far away enough from the school to have a private conversation, which coincidentally led them to their local park, thankfully only old people and birds were the only ones around as school wasn't even over yet.

Ryoga came to a screeching halt, turning around to address the two, Ranma's eyes wide and Akane breathing just a little deeply, "Alright you two, let's talk." Ryoga commented, showing how confident he had become.

"We were trying to! But you just kept running!" Ranma barked, annoyed that Ryoga had pretty much dragged the two across the district without letting them get a word in.

"So... the park?" Akane questioned, panting a little, until composing herself.

"Honestly, I really didn't think this far ahead, cause I know Ranma here," the fang toothed boy gestures to Ranma, "Freaks out whenever anyone's looking." Ryoga expanded on.

Ranma's eyes widened for a second before he crossed his arms and looked to the side, a light tinge of red on his cheeks. Akane, for her part, looked down a little, she was kind of the same, which is why most of her near romantic moments with Ranma didn't always involve an audience or rather she'd like it to be a private moment, however, fate was cruel to her, for whatever reason.

"I'm tired of all this beating around the bush..." Ryoga turned to Ranma, as did Akane, "You both know why we're here."

Silence befell the three, both Akane and Ranma suddenly becoming a little stiff.

Ryoga sighed and tilted his head down for a second before picking it up again, "Fine. I'll start," Ryoga looked towards Akane. "Akane, what I said still stands, as long as you're trying to get with Ranma, you're my rival and I won't let you have him without a fight." Before Ranma could protest, Ryoga's eyes darted to the pig-tailed boy. "Even with what you said to me before, Ranma!"

Ranma flinched in response to Ryoga's outburst but shot back, "I already told you-"

"Don't give me that Ranma!" Ryoga shot back, taking a step towards the pig-tailed boy, glaring and baring his fangs as if he were looking for a fight.

"But how do you know, Ryoga!?" Akane exclaimed, making herself known, blushing a bit as she saw Ranma noticing her stand up for the idea as the two of them being a couple, Akane gulped before continuing. "How do you know if Ranma really doesn't mean what he said?"

Ranma's breath quickened as it showed a level of fear when the prospect of not exploring his feelings towards Ryoga surfaced.

"Because Akane, people often speak without words..." Ryoga replied, having watched Ranma the moment Akane asked her question. "I just saw Ranma's breath cut short, the look in his eyes, all signs that he doesn't think the same, at least, not completely I hope." the Lost Boy added somewhat hesitantly.

Ranma found himself feeling embarrassed for being so easy to read, as being a martial artist usually meant that he had to keep his composure or risk letting enemies in on his attacks, in this case, however, there was no fist to fist contact, there was simply three people trying to make sense out of their strange predicament.

Akane just so happened to look at Ranma when Ryoga spoke, only to see how he was fairing in this discussion, she saw that Ryoga was indeed right. The signs were all there, it wasn't as simple as just stating what you felt, sometimes body language factored into it.

"That's something you really should have understood about yourself Akane," Ryoga commented, bringing up old wounds, the lost boy showing some uncertainty in his words. "How many times did I show you that-that I wanted to be more than friends, huh?" he questioned with a downtrodden look to him.

Akane felt backed into a corner, unable to say anything in retaliation to Ryoga's words. She looked towards Ranma for help but saw that he was going through his own things at the moment.

"That's your biggest problem Akane, you can't read people! All you do is jump the gun whenever someone challenges your precious way of life!" Ryoga exclaimed with enraged but hurt looking eyes, pointing at her.

"What about you!?" Ranma shouted, finally having something to say. "That's what you do too, how many times have you shouted "Prepare to Die!"? Without even knowing what's going on!?" Ranma roared in some hopes of keeping his own feelings at bay.

Ryoga took a step back, seeing Ranma defend Akane, "I'm not going to lie anymore Ranma, you're right," Ryoga lowered his head a bit. "I-I... need to stop being such a damn hypocrite!" Ryoga declared, raising his head and baring his teeth.

"There's no running from it! No matter how much I want to!" Ryoga added, choking as he spoke.

Ranma's only tool for fighting was immediately shot down, all he could do was remain speechless, feeling just as cornered as Akane was.

Ryoga breathed heavily, feeling as though he lost some oxygen to his head, swearing internally that being this honest was somehow shortening his lifespan; an embarrassed blush on his face.

"Why are you saying all this, Ryoga?" Akane asked, now seeming a bit more timid, quite vulnerable now that Ryoga had managed to drop so many barriers.

Ryoga paused for a moment, taking a shallow breath as he readied himself, "What I wanted to get at was... I'm sorry I've been lying to you for so long, Akane..." Ryoga gave a pause to allow Akane to gasp, as her reaction got a rise of fear out of him, but he urged himself to continue, "I'm sorry if it looks like I'm attacking you, it's just that, I just wish we could still be friends too..." he yellow-clad man admitted.

Akane seeing this, felt a pain in her heart as she remembered something from a while back, missing her conversations with Ryoga, he was someone she could vent her problems out to, someone who would offer support even in her worst moments.

This was genuine, this was him actually reaching out to her and letting her know that though things between them were estranged, he still enjoyed the time they spent together. However, they knew that a relationship like that wasn't impossible, given the simple fact that they were there for who got to be with Ranma.

"And what do you got to say to me, huh?" Ranma asked, sounding somewhat defensive.

"What's there left to say, Ranma?" Ryoga asked, looking into his eyes. "We've already said everything..." the lost-boy blushed, then looked away. "At this point it'd just be so Akane hears it..."

"Ryoga... this isn't just about you saying you're sorry to me, is it?" Akane asked, sounding scared but knowing that they had to continue, because honestly, she wanted to reach a conclusion just as much as Ryoga.

Both Ryoga and Akane looked towards Ranma, who noticed their eyes settling on him. The boy in question leaned back as he was now the center of attention. "W-what?"

Akane and Ryoga looked at one another, sighing in frustration, "Ranma, who do you actually want to be with?" Ryoga asked.

"We have a right to know," Akane stated, giving a somewhat harsh expression to her.

Ranma took this in and found himself closing his eyes, trying to make sense of it all, here he was, trying to decide whether to end up with Akane or Ryoga.

Akane had quite a few moments where they nearly found one another falling into a deeply romantic moment, however, Ryoga had history along with a strange rival slash friend angle, someone who could understand Ranma at the same level as a martial artist.

But what about all the times he had called her name? And where she had done the same? Ranma's mind thought back to those times. The way he cared so much about her, what his life would mean without her, though thankfully he never had to imagine it for too long.

Though like a sudden blip in the darkest recess of the oceans, the memories between Ranma and Ryoga resurfaced. All that Pigtailed boy had failed to recall between their reunion.

Despite everything between them, no matter what came between them, they were always pushing each other into new heights.

It was far from perfect or even what either had expected but little by little, mutual trust began to take place between them. All of these coincidences began to take on romantic airs within Ranma's mind, since there were definite moments of weakness between them.

Moments of denial, only serving to drive the tension between them to near inappropriate heights. Some of which were so strong, Ranma couldn't help but look off to the side with a disgruntled blushing face.

Compelling all these feelings and all these memories around the two, Ranma was finally allowed the weight of each instance to stew.

All the while, Akane and Ryoga waited patiently for their answer. For once, both were stone faced and looked ready for whatever their answer was. Still, there was little more they could do but wait for inevitable results.

Time continued to tick on though, each passing second more unbearable than the last. For both knew that if Ranma lost his nerve again, they could possibly be stuck in another relationship limbo.

"Ran-" Akane's stone face faltered, her expression softening as the question posed seemed too much for Ranma.

"Akane," Ryoga called to her quietly, eyes glued to the blue-eyed boy's.

Seizing her attempt at gaining Ranma's attention, the youngest of the Tendo's peaked at Ryoga from the corner of her eye, seeing that he hadn't stopped waiting for Ranma to make up his mind.

"Don't…" Ryoga's voice trailed softly as his eyes gently narrowed, showing his own signs of concern but letting her know that they had little choice but to stay still.

"After everything we've been through, after all the times we've fought, you know, I've always had your back…" Ranma spoke out a somewhat hitched and hoarse voice, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes.

Pulled back from the pits of despair the two hopefuls eyes widened, Ranma was talking about one of them! Though when their study returned to the pigtailed boy, they saw him clench his fists in frightened determination.

Terrified at the implications of Ranma's next words, their fight or flight instincts failed them as they stood still. It was now or never but knowing one could still stand a chance at staying by Ranma's side, well, it was enough for them to hold their ground and close their eyes.

With silent tears in their eyes, Ranma began to walk towards them. Both Akane's and Ryoga gasped as the sound of Ranma's hands clapping against fabric was heard.

"Akane…" Ranma's throaty voice called out painfully.

The blue haired girl felt her face going red, her eyes splitting the tears she had built up, opening them to see the man she had secretly yearned for.

"What R-Ranma?" Akane questioned, feeling her heart pounding in her chest to the point she swore her ears went a little numb as well.

Sadly, however, she wasn't greeted with a warm or comforting expression from Ranma. What she actually saw was a man gritting his teeth, a single tear coming down the side of his face.

The more she watched, the more inner turmoil she witnessed, his breathing was hurried as well as panicked, his blue orbs darting left then right frantically, as if disarming some bomb before taking a quick but deep breath.

Ranma steeled his resolve! For what though? That was what Akane dreaded most. "I used to think that maybe, maybe you and I could be more than just friends, that maybe, we were sorta' meant to be," Ranma said, his face softening to a melodramatic frown.

"Used to?" Akane's voice asked, sounding defeated as her vision blurred, new tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

Watching from the sidelines was the Lost Boy, looking as though he wanted to act but the two he'd have to confront were very dear to the confused yellow-clad teen. All he could do was let Ranma say his peace then wait for his turn.

"Then I thought about how much we liked one another, how much we had in common, but that was the problem you see…" Ranma's voice trailed as he explained, feeling a great weight begin to ease off his shoulders.

"H-how can having things in common be a problem, Ranma?" Akane questioned in disbelief, blinking in confusion.

"We got things in common but not in the right way," Ranma answered, avoiding Akane's pleading eyes that threatened to bawl out in tears.

"Right, way?" Akane's strong demeanor collapsed from what she was hearing, her shoulders dropping as all her defenses had come tumbling down.

"Akane, fighting is my life, I've always wanted to show the world how strong I can be," Ranma revealed, finally saying all that had been bothering him.

The girl with the Azul hair remained silent, she didn't want to be the best that there ever was; she could only be Akane.

"But ever since Pops and Soun said we were engaged, I forgot about that, I started settling into a different kind of life ya know, one that wasn't me…" Ranma explained further, tightening his grip on Akane's shoulder, though, not painfully by the looks of it.

"So it's not enough for you," Akane mumbled softly, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"I felt trapped, like no matter what I did, even if I think about settling down like everyone else I'm always going to want to be honest with myself…" Ranma said, his eyes softening.

Ranma's words sank into the two, he was finally letting go of the insecurities that kept them from moving on.

"I guess t-that means the engagement is off then, huh?" Akane asked with a hurt voice, averting her gaze to hopefully spare herself some pain.

Ryoga looked away, of course, on a certain level he felt bad for everything but just because they were an unusual coupling, that doesn't mean that they didn't deserve a shot at each other's happiness.

The fang toothed boy gasped silently as he looked at Ranma and Akane, hearing the sound of two bodies colliding.

Right in front of him was the pigtailed teen and his former crush but they were hugging! However, it wasn't as he expected, from the looks of it they were both hugging the other apologetically.

Akane's arms were wrapped around Ranma's torso while he had one arm wrapped around her back but the other on top of his former fiancé's head. This was their moment, their time to bask in the idea one last time before their embers of passion faded into quiet non-existence.

Though they could not bridge the gap, they grew accustomed to one another, maybe they weren't the best of friends but their time together would be burnt into their minds and souls for the rest of their natural lives.

As they lingered, they recalled all the moments they genuinely enjoyed together, how they could sometimes put their issues aside and just stand together as friends.

Tears cascaded from their eyes, they slowly pulled back from one another. They knew that the other had been crying but for once, that didn't mean anything anymore, the barriers between them no longer served a purpose.

"I'll let you tell my Dad how you want to break it off," Akane said, being the first one to speak, using her index finger to wipe her tears off.

"Thanks for everything, Akane…" Ranma's voice trailed as he lowered his head, pulling away from her.

Wordlessy Akane tilted her head, a melancholic smile to her face forming before she closed her eyes and bowed her head, taking her leave right after.

Ranma raised his hand as if reaching out to her but about half-way through, his arm fell as he looked away from her.

The pigtailed teen lowered his head, taking a shuddering breath as he looked deep in thought.

Ryoga's eyes trembled as now it was his turn to receive an answer, with nothing to see as a positive he braced himself by freezing again, not even daring to blink as he watched his former crush politely excuse herself.

Tap!Tap!

Much like a movie character getting snuck up by the movie's monster, the fang toothed tee's eyes widened in slow terror. His eyes scanned Ranma's face for any signs again, anything he could use to let him breathe again!

Moving so that Ranma could stand in front of him, the lost teen cursed his luck, even when confessing, Ranma was still insufferably good at hiding his true feelings.

In truth, Ranma couldn't bear to meet Ryoga eye to eye, 'Really glad I haven't gotten a haircut in a while, now I can prepare for this…' he thought.

"Ryoga…" Ranma's voice trailed as he said the other male's name.

"Y-yes! R-Ranma?" Ryoga stuttered as he looked down, blushing with wide eyes.

"First off, I wanna' ask you sumthin'." Ranma started in a low rumbling voice, averting his eyes.

"What's that?" Ryoga asked, leaning his head back a little as he had expected Ranma to wait a little longer before continuing.

"You know I only acted girly to mess with you, if we get together, that'd change, and you'd be stuck with me, just me…" Ranma's voice trailed in uncertainty, wondering if that'd be utter torture for Ryoga.

"I don't see a problem with that," Ryoga answered softly, reaching up to scratch his cheek.

"Even if people call you a pervert? A freak? Some weirdo?" Ranma inquired with a quaking but skeptical tone, showing some resistance.

"I'm stuck wandering this world, I've been called everything under the sun in languages I never even knew existed," Ryoga answered, a melodramatic frown taking shape. "Being called a freak or pervert is nothing compared to missing out on our chance together…" The Lost Boy finished answering the question, stuffing one hand in his pocket and rubbing the back of his neck with the other.

"W-what makes you think we got a chance together?" Ranma questioned, trying to keep Ryoga from getting ahead of himself.

"The fact you haven't told me to get lost yet," Ryoga replied, raising his head to meet Ranma's trembling blue spheres.

Ranma's pigtail rose as if it had suddenly come to life, leaning his head back enough to reveal his lightly blushing face. "Maybe I was waiting until now," Ranma managed to say after taking a quick breath.

Ryoga went over to Ranma, no fear, no hesitation as he stopped before him, his longing look remaining. "Then do it, I'm ready…" Ryoga remarked, he knew what he was here for and now was the time to stop stalling.

Unexpectedly the blue eyed male leaned his head back, "If we're doing this, then I gotta' do it as the fake girl you were pretending to date…" Ranma answered, letting his voice trail as he made his way over to the nearest drinking fountain.

Ryoga couldn't help but swallow, Ranma hadn't outright rejected him like he was expecting but now he was trying to do what he needed as a girl? He lowered his head a little, 'Well, if our fake relationship has to come to an end, guess it's going to end the same way it started, I get it now…' the Lost Boy thought, his throat closing from the pain building up inside his heart.

The sound of hands slapping against a metal surface rang in Ryoga's ears. He lazily looked at her, his mind already expecting to see a face ready to push him away, instead he saw Ranma's hands on the edges of the drinking fountain.

She was hunched over, water dripping from her hair and face like little droplets of rain. From what he could see, she was taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly.

Ryoga wanted to run, to do as he had been told to do before and live up to his title as the Lost Boy. Though he couldn't move from his spot, his pride and hopes wouldn't let him. His breathing quivered, baring his fangs but keeping his eyes glued to the concrete beneath him.

His thoughts ran frantically, trying to remember all the times Ranma had made his heart beat to what he would call to the rhythm of an intense drum. How she eventually wanted to become his friend, how they had shared heated kisses, be it to deter Kuno or ward off anyone else.

The way Ranma held onto him all those times, how despite her teasing getting on his nerves, there was something different about it, this time he knew there might have been something between them.

Now here he was, practically standing at the final door at the end of a long journey.

Ranma's soft footsteps hit his ears, each step like the ticking of a clock, there was no malice, no aggression. Ryoga flinched as he felt a hand touching his cheek, opening his eyes as he looked down to the damp redhead.

Even if Ryoga was scared out of his mind, that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate how beautiful Ranma was right now. "A-are you touching my face?" Ryoga questioned while leaning back a little.

The girl in front of him looked rather peeved but even if she appeared that way, she was still tenderly caressing his left cheek with her right palm. "Yeah? What about it?" Ranma asked in a slight huff.

"W-why are you though?" Ryoga inquired, clenching his fists as he had to keep himself from wanting to lean his face into her delicate but strong hand.

"I'm trying to get a good look at you, any more questions?" she inquired, raising an insulted looking eyebrow.

"Why do you need a good look at me?" Ryoga asked in annoyance, feeling a familiar flame rumble in his belly, 'Why does she always want to mess with me first! For once can't she just be direct!' he pondered in utter frustration.

"I need to know what I see in this ugly mug of yours…" Ranma's voice trailed as she redirected his eyes so that they were aligned with her.

"See in?" Ryoga asked, his mouth agape as it slowly dawned on him.

"You still ain't get it?" Ranma asked incredulously as she then tugged his ear down to her level.

"Ah!" Ryoga screamed as he was yanked down to her so his ear could be nearly against her mouth.

"I like you! You stupid pig-brained oaf! Hell I think I even lo-" Ranma exclaimed loudly into his ear, making sure the lost oblivious anime male protagonist could understand.

Being damn near to drawing to the same conclusion as Ranma, Ryoga found himself getting smacked by the news in the form of her screeching in his ear. Gritting his teeth while hunched over uncomfortably he managed to catch her last words.

'I think I even lo-'

Clasping her hands over her mouth she leaned back in horror, hating how Ryoga was able to make her poker face crumble so easily sometimes.

With Ranma's hand no longer painfully yanking his ear, he was able to recognize what she had almost said. "What did you almost say?" Ryoga inquired, eyes glistening as he felt the world around him begin to melt into the infinite nothingness.

With the cat out of the bag, she knew that she could say something, he was gullible enough but was she really choosing to ignore his warning? This was her chance to be honest. "I think, I think I l-lo-" Ranma swallowed painfully, leaning back with terrified but trembling eyes.

"Loathe?" Ryoga asked with a crestfallen face, losing his momentum. "But you still like me?" he seemed baffled for a moment.

Blushing Ranma narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth in sheer frustration, she was breathing heavily, to think he could still be this dense. "I love you! Okay! I didn't want to believe it! I didn't think I could!" Ranma confessed loudly, tipping herself forward a little from how agitated she was throughout.

"But here we are! And-And I don't know what to do!" she exclaimed in a defeated sounding voice.

The lost steam Ryoga had dropped slowly returned as he allowed Ranma's words to stick into his heart and soul. "When did you realize you could love me back?" he asked without thinking, letting himself speak from the heart.

"I-I aint sure, I think the time I started to feel it most was when you told me to put my mouth to better use," She awkwardly revealed while looking down.

Ryoga's eyes widened as his mind flashed back into that instant, especially what happened after that. "O-oh…"

"I also started feeling weird after Akane asked if there was something between us, but I gotta' know then pig-brain, did you lie?" Ranma wanted to know as she forced herself to take a step closer to Ryoga.

It was all out in the open now, but what were they to do with this? Now Ryoga was being pressed for an answer that he never thought he'd have to answer. "I-I did, I-I just didn't think you were interested in me then…" he replied in a solemn way.

"To be honest, I'd have probably freaked out if you asked then…" Ranma admitted averting her eyes, she put her arm behind her back to grab her elbow.

"Not everyday two rivals fall for each other," Ryoga mumbled as he gazed into the eyes he had called to battle so many times before.

"Ones that forget you, say you'll kill them, almost fall for the same girl…" Ranma said, listing off the things wrong with them getting together but still there was no hint in her voice that she was necessarily upset by all these facts.

Things were different now, they knew they were interested but could not bring themselves to act. Neither knew what else to say, they felt like they were stuck in a twilight world. It was neither day nor night, sounds were optional, all they could hear was the moment.

"Ones that wish you had ended up being friends, instead of enemies…" Ryoga's voice trailed as he got a smidge closer to the redhead before him.

"Ones that win you over, little by little…" Ranma's voice trailed while mumbling, reaching her hands up to rest them against Ryoga's chest.

"The ones you had wished you had told them you wanted to be friends sooner," Ryoga continued listing things, reaching his arms up to bring the redhead into his arms.

"Ryoga, since we're both actually guys, who's supposed to ask the other out?" Ranma asked curiously, looking off to the side as she looked nervous to the point she couldn't maintain basic eye contact.

"Me, of course," Ryoga answered with a deep voice.

"So, are you gonna'?" Ranma after a moment's hesitation.

Ryoga shut his eyes, feeling tears running down his eyes as a smile spread across his face but he couldn't help but feel better after getting everything out of the way. "Ranma Saotome, will you go out with me?" the raven haired teen inquired softly.

"Hmm," Ranma looked to think it over after all the things they had just been through. "Lose my house and home for someone I'm really into?" Ranma inquired to herself, blushing deeply but looking to be thinking it over in a playful way.

Ryoga felt that it had been smooth sailing after their most recent words but after hearing that after all this, Ranma was still willing to mess with him! Feeling like a nerve was about to burst, he clenched his fist with his eyes closed.

Ranma pulled her head back, her eyes shut as she waited for him to respond.

"D-did you just?" Ryoga questioned as one of his hands reached up to touch his cheek.

"I just said yes so be grateful dam–" Ranma responded with an agitated voice, shutting her eyes.

Before the redheaded beauty could continue, she was stopped by the fact she felt Ryoga's hand on her chin, tilting her head up to see Ryoga's closed eyes as he pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes shut but they still quaked in fear before eventually melting into a more relaxed look.

As they kissed the pressure and tension from all their previous encounters replayed in their minds, but despite all that separated them, they could finally focus on the moments between them where they knew the other felt the same.

Was this against everything Ranma was taught? Was this a risk on Ryoga's hopes of ever starting a family of his own? Yes. That didn't matter to the two fated martial artists, their lives brought them together in ways the two could never have expected.

Now they were going to find out what it means for them to throw away the shackles of expectations. The weight of their fathers wasn't something for them to be burdened with anymore, they were closer than friends.

Neither noticed as the light of a camera flashed briefly around them.

The ringing in their ears and the explosive relief washing over them took hold, refusing to let go as they continued to allow their instincts and passion to drive them. Unwilling to let up, Ryoga briefly remembered how he had also hurt Akane with his strength, so he could gently dip the redhead in his arms.

Ranma's focus remained on the simple task of kissing, that when she felt herself getting lowered a little she was pleasantly surprised by moaning a little louder when she was. For once, she was scared to be vulnerable but rather excited by it since she knew the person making her feel this way had only deep passionate reasons to do this to her.

"Mmm!" Ranma squinted her eyes as she felt Ryoga taking more charge, causing her disgruntled face to quickly vanish, replacing it with a look of calm but blushing face.

Instinctually she raised her leg along with her pigtail.

At first, Ranma was somewhat resistant, however, that familiar feeling sank in and allowed her mind to go blank as Ryoga took her breath away.

To Ryoga, this wasn't a kiss just to be fair, this was a lover's kiss.

Ranma was now at the point where she was just as into it as Ryoga, tilting her head to the side, parting her lips ever so gently as to keep going back in for more. Doing that, though, only caused Ryoga to become more confident, which in turn led to him French kissing the redhead in his arms.

Ryoga smiled tenderly when he felt her part her lips, after his smile the lost-boy took the redhead into his arms, one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek. Ranma flinched noticeably, her hair standing on end.

They both retracted from the other, desperately needing air at that point.

Panting heavily they gazed into each other's eyes, "T-take a breather there, w-we ain't even gone our first real date yet…" Ranma's voice trailed softly as she spoke through haggard breaths.

"A-are you really asking me to be classy for our first-first date after what we just did, Ranma?" Ryoga inquired with a smile and a light huffing.

"That was the only freebie Bacon-breath, next one ya' gotta' earn." Ranma replied, smirking softly with a coy but cat-like smile.

Ryoga's eyes softened as he gazed into his unexpected beauty's eyes, smiling as the tinge of pink on his cheeks darkened a little, "Alright," Ryoga said, shortly after answering he closed his eyes.

Both Ranma and Ryoga knew that the road ahead of them wasn't going to be an easy one, but since when were they known for doing things the easy way?

It's just who they were, it's what helped them come together.

What else could anyone have expected from…

Ryoga's Girlfriend.

THE END