Ryoga's Girlfriend Ch11
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ series, Ranma ½ is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz media.
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Mousse
The raven haired teen began his ambitious adventure to rescue his beloved Shampoo but during his travels, he was met with met difficulties, such as no one giving him the time of day to assist or completely clueless as to whoever he was talking about. Although Shampoo and Kuno had made a reputation for themselves, the people of Nermia preferred to avoid anything involving people they believed escaped from a psychiatric ward. Nevertheless, Mousse scoured the district for quite awhile, as he scanned the district he began to lose hope and was thus left to his thoughts. 'Shampoo... where are you!? Where could she possibly take you to train someone like Kuno?' he thought while nearing the end of the district, distracted with his thoughts, unable to figure out the training location, he checked all the usual places in Nermia but none seemed to house the missing group but whilst jumping towards another rooftop, he came to a conclusion, one he should have obviously considered before.
"The forest!" he exclaimed right before crashing into a wall like a hacky sack. "Ugh..." Mousse groaned as he slid down the larger than usual building wall until eventually hitting the ground, his limbs extended in all directions like a police outline of a murder victim. "O-oh great... my glasses..." he groaned as they had become damaged from the sudden face to wall action that occurred only moments ago.
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Cologne, Kuno & Shampoo
Our three martial artists and bucktoothed ninja, traversed the dense forest lands, nearing their destination and once within view of their training grounds, they could easily tell that although the training grounds had a natural atmosphere to it, it also had ample room for gathering wood or washing one's clothes in the stream and what a stream it was, sunlight reflected like radiant beads shimmering in the water, fish flew high into the air with no regard to their safety as no predators; other than our three travelers, were currently present. The ambiance only further enhanced by the tranquil sounds emitting from the surrounding area, birds chirping in a harmonious pattern, the calming sound of running water echoing lightly as the water traveled down stream.
"We've arrived..." Cologne stated, hopping off of Shampoo's backpack, only to hop around on her stick and turn to the others. "Now Tatewaki Kuno after every encounter prior to this moment, I've studied your precision, your reflexes as well as your abilities to counter..." Cologne went on, her tone matching that of someone who seemed impressed.
Kuno all the while stood with his backpack, feeling confident in his results and even more so as he saw that Cologne appeared content with him, Kuno scuffed feeling that this was much-needed praise. Sasuke while in the background of Cologne's explanation could be seen dragging his large backpack of supplies, finally arriving the bucktoothed ninja collapsed from exhaustion.
"Omph!" Sasuke groaned, sighing, needing a well-earned rest.
"And I determined that you're ...a fool." Cologne finished, now changing her tone to match what she actually felt. "You're brash and foolish, with no commitment to the art, rather you use it for your own personal gain, which under normal circumstances I'd say could be a strength but given the level of arrogance you've displayed, I'd say you're a step too far..."
Immediately after Kuno's mouth fell a gape, Sasuke felt the same about the results, as his mouth was now open wide, whereas Shampoo was holding her gut and while laughing her head off, needing to take a moment to compose herself as she had also fallen for Cologne's act; expecting her to give him praise only to offer modest improvement.
"Who are you to make such a claim, you know not my true strength, hag!" Tatewaki shouted, dropping his large backpack and drawing his bokken, his hand on the hilt of his wooden instrument.
"And that child is what will delay your progress... when you've reached a wall you simply attempt to overcome it in some crazy way rather than trying to address the differences in power," Cologne said, narrowing her eyes. "Your skills, compared amongst your peers is laughable, your resolve is your only saving grace..."
Shampoo felt that Cologne's method for reaching Kuno inner 'warrior' had gotten much crueler now, perhaps she had a strategy but as far as she could make out, this was somewhat familiar with her regular method of training.
"Have at thee!" Kuno shouted, rising his bokken above his head and aiming to bring it down on Cologne, who, quite easily, side stepped Kuno's attack with ease, smacking the bokken out of his hand with her cane and then bashing the top end against his head, causing him to drop to his knees and grab his head.
"You allow your anger to control you but with no refinement of your skill, that anger is wasted..." Cologne stated, narrowing her eyes. "Remember that your bokken is an extension of yourself, child... although I hear you're often in contest with the others of Nermia, more commonly known for using devious methods to attain your goals as well, even willing to go as far as slaying your foes, yet you have yet to succeed in any of these attempts..." Cologne stated, all the while Kuno after nursing his wound by rubbing on it he began to listen to Cologne's words, his hands remained firmly on his head as his head was held down. That's right, I'll start by building some confidence and then crushing it. Perhaps it will yield some results if a barrier is brought down.' Cologne thought to herself.
Kuno became lost in his thoughts, taking in Cologne's words and at points wishing to stand and strike her but as she went on it became more and more apparent that his years of training compared to the others paled in comparison, he was nothing but a drop of water in an endless sea of ridicule, a common fly only to be swatted away the moment his presence became unnecessary. Each an every memory held some truth as time an time again he failed to win anyone's attention and even the few that did, soon came to dislike him. His mind sought denial but could no longer hold its peace as each word struck him like a bolt from a crossbow.
"I yield to no one!" Kuno shouted as he stood to his feet, opting to use his bare hands towards the aged master, who would continuously side step the boy and his attempts, her movements seemed unreal as she hovered around on her feet as well as her cane as if she were a butterfly dancing gracefully in the wind. In his frustration, Kuno attempted to kick Cologne but the moment he did so, she reached out and grabbed him by his ankle, using his forward momentum to yank him forward and cause him to land on his back. "Argh!" Kuno cried, baring his fangs as he pushed through the slight head trauma.
"You have quite the demons to face..." Cologne commented as she wiped a bit of dust off her shoulder.
Shampoo gasped at how much genuine sorrow there was in Kuno's tone, this wasn't someone fighting to prove their superiority, this was someone fighting to protect their fragile state of mind. All the while Shampoo felt a level of unease while she watched as if merely watching him in his anguish broke her heart, leading to her uncertainly wanting to comfort him. 'S-Shampoo no is...' her thoughts began only to die down as she saw the look on his face, 'Kuno...' Shampoo drifted as her blush deepened and the tightness in her chest grew, so much that she felt that placing her hand over her chest would ease the pain; it did not.
The tree leafs rustled from the gentle caress of the winds, leaving the shadows of said leaves to dance across Kuno's body as he laid there, motionless, being reminded of his short comings with each and every failed attempt. His face reflected these feelings as he stared up into trees and what sunlight reached him. 'Am I but a jester...?' Kuno thoughts came out as soft whispers as if to hold back his emotions. 'Never have I truly beaten Saotome, nor the various others that have stood in my way...' Kuno pondered as he fought to push those thoughts back, he was about to be comforted by Shampoo, only to have Sasuke interfere as he saw that his master had fallen, yet again.
"Master Kuno!" Sasuke shouted as he dropped to his knees and was about to assist. Neither noticed Shampoo as she, right before Sasuke went to aid Kuno she had reached her hand out towards the fallen Samurai.
"I'm alright, Sasuke..." Kuno commented, his hair falling over his eyes as if to hide his shame. "Retrieve my weapon, knave..." Kuno commanded, right before standing up.
"As you wish Master Kuno!" Sasuke replied, somewhat awkwardly going over to bring Kuno's bokken back.
"I'm still the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, you needn't worry about me," Kuno stated, although with much less cockiness behind his tone.
Cologne all the while watched his display a little ways off to the side, smiling as she knew that she had made an impact but what he said was still some indication of him clinging to his precious ego. "Not quite there yet... but certainly some progress," Cologne said to herself.
After tending to his wounded ego Kuno had begun training his bokken strikes, trying to force more speed into his thrusts and had gotten as far as cutting trees with it, given the wooden nature of his sword that was certainly a feat but as he did so he noticed that it still wasn't fast enough to even compete with Cologne's speed, not by a long shot. 'Faster...' he shouted in his mind as he performed another strike, 'Faster! I mustn't let that decrepit bag of bones best me! I! The blue thunder!'
During Kuno's training, Cologne finished the preparations for the training grounds as various sticks had been stabbed into the river, creating a balance based training exercise seemed to be the theme.
Shampoo all the while was making preparations for their meals, watching them going about their busy ways, Sasuke aiding Shampoo with any ingredients she may require.
"There... the stage is set," Cologne announced as she hopped from one bamboo pole to another and finished crossing the course by doing a front flip into the air, whacking the end of her cane to the end of a loose fitting balance beam, the force she applied to the strike ending up being used to her advantage as her momentum propelled her forward, causing her to land on the ground with her arms extended outwards.
"You!" Cologne exclaimed, pointing towards the training Kuno family member. "Shampoo! You as well!" she then pointed towards Great Granddaughter.
Shampoo while stirring the pot stopped to look at her great grandmother, she then looked towards Sasuke. "Can ninja finish?" she asked.
"Oh yes! I'm quite familiar with this stew!" Sasuke stated, smiling as a good amount of time had gone by since Kuno had either yelled at him or demanded something, on top of that helping Shampoo was a delight as she wasn't too pushy or demanding.
Kuno sighed as he looked towards the aged master, as much as he knew that taking orders from her would only worsen his situation he wasn't really in a position to be arguing when he turned to her he happened across the training course she had set up. "Perhaps you have me mistaken for someone else, I training in a much different manner than this..."
"Child you're not very bright..." Cologne stated, narrowing her eyes, earning a glare from Kuno. "This course will train you, force precise movements and perhaps even allow you to to compete with your peers, remember that balance is key and when you've achieved that form of balance, I'll help you attain greater speed... after all, isn't that what you want?" Cologne smirked, easily able to figure out Kuno's training intentions.
"Then there isn't much choice, is there...?" Kuno questioned rhetorically, getting thoroughly annoyed with this whole thing, though it wasn't as if he had much else to do, other than sample fine foods and find other methods to attain Akane's attention but a deal was a deal and now he was suffering for it.
"Good... and your opponent will be none other than my great-granddaughter," Cologne stated, looking towards Shampoo who seemed to flinch at the prospect of training just above a moderately quick stream but upon remembering who her opponent was; she quickly relaxed.
Kuno pondered the idea of taking Shampoo on but even though he knew what the outcome would be, he foolishly stuck to his pride and readied himself, charging the balance poles and jumping upwards, if one were to be beneath him they could see his form eclipse the sun momentarily, giving him a radiant aura of confidence, shortly after a large splash could be heard as Kuno had failed to land, earning a look of disappointment from the two amazons, Sasuke only worried as his master was being pushed downstream but saw that his master had thankfully latched onto one of the bamboo sticks.
"This may take awhile..." Cologne stated with flat eyes, Shampoo showing a similar expression, nodded her head.
Kuno was then seen climbing the bamboo stick much like a rope climbing exercise at school although Kuno worked in a hurried pace before reaching the top and attaining his balance, panting slightly and coughing up bits of water.
"Let us begin!" he shouted, pointing towards Shampoo with his trademark weapon.
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Akane
Akane sat on her bed and, holding her pillow as she thought about this day and how she could reflect on it. She had allowed her weakness to get the best of her, which was something so uncommon of her. Why did she let Ranma go after Ryoga alone? She wasn't usually one to allow these sort of things to happen, she had been Ryoga's friend up until his declaration of war, maybe she could have helped, maybe she could have done something to change the outcome. Ryoga was a friend of hers, one who listened to her before, someone who seemed like a true friend, 'But he actually just wanted to be closer to me... more than friends...' she thought, looking towards her window with a feeling of longing in her but what she longed for she had no clear idea now, she wondered if it was because of Ranma, 'Ranma...' she thought in a whispered tone, she recalled her recent reactions towards the pig-tailed boy's actions or to be more accurate Ranma's actions as a girl. Ranma acting so differently, there wasn't anything magical going on, everything Ranma said to her was something only the Ranma she knew would say, this wasn't the koi rod incident, this wasn't some magical artifact or anything, this was Ranma trying to help Ryoga. 'Why don't you open up to me, Ranma!?' Akane thought with gritted teeth, right before throwing her pillow towards the wall,"You said that you picked me but-but..." Akane mumbled as tears gently fell from her eyes, the droplets hitting the ground like rain.
Fighting back tears the Tendo child thought back to the last thing Ranma had said to her, before disappearing into her room.
Flashback
Just moments before they returned Kasumi was walking towards the door from the hallway, her hands clasped together as there was somewhat of a pleasant smile on her face, as per usual, that was until the door was slammed open by Ranma, she power walked her way to the stairs was Akane tried her best to keep up, trying to reach out to the red-headed girl but as Ranma was about mid-way into the stairs, Ranma spoke to her.
"I need ta' be alone..."
There was a long period of silence as Akane stood still, her hand placed over her left bosom, trying to ease the feeling of panic but just like the many that came before her, she failed to do anything with this gesture.
"Ranma..."
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Ranma
Once Ranma was at a safe enough distance from anyone she rested her back up against her door as she slid down, her bottom bumping onto the floor as she brought her knees close to her chest and hugged them, a saddened expression out for display on her delicate features. This was her choice, she picked Akane because they had been through so much, till this point in time. After she had made the claim of choosing Akane she couldn't bring herself to really do anything and who could blame her? Maybe in time, her heart would heal and eventually she'd find a cure to her curse and have a happy family with Akane. "Argh! Stop it you stupid... stupid heart!" Ranma muttered, sighing heavily shortly after.
A bit passed as she stared at her futon, as she remembered that moment when she and Ryoga ended up entangled in a mess of sheets, when thinking about how that sounded in her head, a blush crossed her face and she quickly turned to look away, her heart began to beat quickly when she did, her breath becoming somewhat shallow as she fought the panic in her chest.
Then came that moment where she heard Ryoga claim his love for her, the honest sincerity in his tone, the way his voice quivered as he spoke, to her, there wasn't some superficial need to gain status, no cheesy poetic moonlight meeting destiny, no traditions sake promises or even some promise as childhood friends, there was someone pouring their heart out, knowing that the result might pain them like a thousand pin-needles to the heart. Now she was feeling it too, this was the feeling she had always hoped to avoid with the women of Nermia, breaking someone's heart and the worst part of it all; she wanted to return some of those feelings. 'This is what I get for offering myself as his fake girlfriend, isn't it?' she thought, 'I shouldn't have done it, he always goes too far...' although she felt that way, she knew that she did the same when it came to things that shouldn't have been pushed, how many times had she claimed to be something to Ryoga? How many times had she used her charms or tricked him into something? Made him even think she was some other girl that fell in love with him, was this karma? But was Ryoga the only guilty one? How many times had she caught herself mentally debating with herself as to whether or not to be something more with Ryoga? Lingering on that idea her mind eventually came back to the various kisses they had and the most recent close calls and how Ryoga actually wanted a kiss from Ranma to be consensual? That was a luxury she had constantly been refused, especially when it came to Shampoo.
Stolen novel; please report.
Although there were times were Ryoga had forced himself on her a bit, but not like she hadn't, but those were for the sake of keeping him around.
It was then that Ranma's face became disgruntled as she continued to think about the moments where she kissed with Ryoga and how some of the most intimate ones had effected her, especially that time Ryoga groped her rear.
"Ugh..." Ranma groaned lightly as her brow twitched as a light blush formed on her cheeks. 'Why didn't I slap him for that!?' Ranma thought, then concluding that simply slapping him was to woman like, 'I mean to kick his ass! Damn it!' Ranma thought as she was no suddenly on the floor, gripping the sides of her head while rolling around on the floor, until she realized that she was on the floor and stopped, resting on her back she stared at the ceiling for a time as she allowed everything to sink in. "Do I... have a crush... no... but..." Ranma drew out in soft whispers.
"Ryoga..."
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Shampoo & Kuno
The two martial artists appeared to be an in a bit of a stare down as they waited for the call to battle to begin, Cologne acting as referee for this little match; from the sidelines. "Begin!"
Kuno charged forward with his bokken drawn back, screaming a powerful battle cry, before a loud splash was heard as it appears that Shampoo lazily sidestepped Kuno's attack, as it was far too predictable. "Is too easy..." she stated, her eyes going flat.
Kuno yet again latched onto one of the bamboo balance beams and proceeded to climb it again, doing so in a comically fast manner as water dripped from his clothing and hair, giving him some additional weight. "That was but luck!" he exclaimed.
"Child you must focus your attacks, predict her move-"
"Silence!" Kuno exclaimed, throwing his arm out and shouting. "I needn't your assistance!" he claimed before turning his attention to Shampoo once more, "I've bested you before! I shall do so once more!"
"Is lucky!" Shampoo shouted, blushing and pointing to him, remembering how awful she felt when Ranma told her who he had actually been into. Cologne seemed to grow more and more annoyed with the two as it seemed that bickering amongst one another was their thing, which made her wonder if they had something similar to what Ranma and Akane had, as she saw that the two continued to bicker, her patience continued to dwindle, so she took action.
In an instant she flew across the training beams and bopped them on the heads with her cane, earning cries of pain from the two love birds. "Enough!"
"Why hit Shampoo!?" The lavender haired girl screamed, an anime teardrop forming in her eye as she grits her teeth.
"That is because you let your emotions get the best of you!" Cologne then followed with, "And you! Let me finish! Focus your attacks and take the time to listen to her movements, from there your instincts will guide you." Cologne said, looking towards Kuno. The aged martial artist took her place back on the sidelines and watched as Kuno and Shampoo readied themselves once more after they finished licking their wounds.
Kuno narrowed his eyes, at first, he had no intention of taking Cologne's advice and felt that his ways were much better but as he pondered it for a second, perhaps she did have a slight chance of being right so he took a moment to examine Shampoo's stance and proceeded to charge forward, swinging in a sideways arch, which she quickly evaded by the jumping on Kuno's head, though being that Ranma had jumped from Kuno's head plenty of times, he was familiar with how it worked and had even developed a keen sense of momentum direction, allowing his instincts to take control he aimed where he felt her force would take her, so he swung his form around abruptly and threw his bokken towards Shampoo.
Shampoo who went about the training as though it wasn't a big deal, however, she had failed to take notice of Kuno's bokken being swung towards her, whereas Ranma in this situation would have the keen senses to anticipate while he was distracted, Shampoo, however, didn't have the luxury, the end of Kuno's bokken collided with Shampoo's stomach, catching her by surprise as her eyes widened while she fell backwards into the water.
At first, Kuno took a smug sense of satisfaction in his victory but instead of being greeted with a disappointed Shampoo emerging from the water in a fit of jealous rage, he saw a purple haired cat being taken down stream to who knows where.
"Mroooow!" She cried, kicking about in the water, being much too small to fight the current.
Kuno's eyes widened as he suddenly became alert, "Mistress Shampoo!" he shouted, diving into the water beneath them and swimming to companion's side.
"Master Kuno!" Sasuke screamed in worry while filling the bowls for their meal, just about to go aid his master only to have Cologne appear next to him, her cane keeping him from proceeding. This earned a look from Sasuke, Cologne only replied with a narrowing of her eyes, as if telling him to not interfere.
Shampoo kicked frantically before she saw Kuno and tried to reach for him as desperately as he was trying to reach her, upon making contact the Shakespearean poet took hold of her, using all his might to push against the current, till they were at a safe enough point on the coast, water dripping from both their forms, but what was more shocking than the fact that Kuno risked his life was that he was now cradling Shampoo's cat form in his hands, bringing her in close in a very concerned manner.
"My, my... either you're an extreme cat lover or an extreme Shampoo lover..." Cologne stated, now standing ten feet away from the two. Shampoo in her feline state was only blushing while Kuno cradled her and that only increased as Cologne teased them, suddenly Shampoo vanished from Kuno's arms and reappeared a few feet away, hurriedly running towards her bag, Kuno would have taken the time to feel as embarrassed as Shampoo but as he watched her leave, he felt a sudden stinging sensation; three slash marks appearing across his face.
"Ahhhhh!" he cried, holding his face and writhing in pain.
Cologne suppressed her gut-busting laughter, muttering them with her sleeve as she snickered, 'All according to plan...' she thought, smirking while Kuno continued to try an ease his pain.
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Genma & Soun
"Sir...sir!"
A voice called out to Genma as his vision appeared to be fading in an out, his eyes fluttering open as it inspected the area he was in, his mind was currently in a haze as the blurred image of a man appeared to be kneeling down in front of him, the form then reached out and shook his shoulder, earning another groan from Genma as his eyes adjusted before focusing, the formally blurred vision of a man revealing himself to be a police officer.
"Wha? Where am I?" Genma asked, as from moving his head about he felt the sting of the dart dangling on his neck, he reached his hand out and yanked it. "Ah!" he groaned, rubbing his neck.
"Who did this to you, sir?" The officer asked, leaning forward. It was then that Genma looked around and saw that Soun was also being awakened in the same way as he was. "Tendo! Get up!"
Soun shook his head a few times as drool hangs from the side of his mouth and when he awoke he found another officer staring at him but thankfully for him the officer was holding the tranquilizer in his hand, so there wasn't any pain from his end. "What's going on, Saotome?"
The officer who had been questioning Genma's eyes widened as he realized something, "Wait... you two wouldn't happen to be Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo, would you?"
The one that had removed the tranquilizer from Soun's back also came to the same realization and suddenly beamed from the prospect of meeting the two. "You're the sages of Poke'mon!" he exclaimed.
"I remember seeing you two at the tournament!" Genma officer exclaimed as he took Genma's hand and began to shake it, his partner doing the same with Soun. "It's an honor to meet you! I'm Hachiro and this is my partner Junichi!"
"While... it seems we have quite the reputation Saotome..." Soun stared, dumbfounded at the spectacle of a scene unfolding. Genma mirrored Soun expression but Soun came to realize that if they were under suspicion for the damage in the area, that could be disastrous to their budget, especially their Poke'mon funds!
"Y-yes! Thank you for your support!" Genma exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "I would've won the entire thing had I not been beaten by that Sadami kid!"
"I honestly thought you were cheated mister Saotome..." Hachiro commented, nodding his head with his eyes closed but then remembered. "Oh! Almost forgot but back to my previous question... who did this to you?"
Genma was tempted to say Ryoga's name as that had been their intended target but then remembered the humiliation Kodachi had brought onto both Soun and him and instantly found his anger rising, someone with no honor deserved no mercy, even though in this instance it was like the teapot mocking the kettle but Genma was too enraged to really care too much about being a hypocrite. "It was Kodachi Kuno! She caused all this damage here!"
"Would you happen to have any proof, mister Saotome?" Hachiro asked, raising a brow.
It was then that Genma stopped. Eyes blinking as he had hoped that merely his word would've been sufficient, that had placed somewhat of a damper on his revenge, that was until Kami-sama himself... or dumb luck, whichever was more appropriate had smiled upon the two as Junichi during all this was studying the tranquilizer in question, as he observed it he noticed something.
"Property of Kodachi Kuno..."
"Looks like we have your proof, mister Saotome... we hope you two join the League of Adult Poke' Masters." the fellow Poke'mon fan waved off.
"Of course, we will, son! Only an adult can master a children's card game!" Soun exclaimed, placing his hand on his chest as their fellow man-children were off to see a certain Kuno family member.
The two officers took a few more pictures before waving the two off, Soun and Genma returning the wave. "Dodged another bullet there, didn't we, Tendo?"
"Yes... it seems that our luck is looking up?" Soun said, sounding questionable at any moment it seemed that their luck as going well, something would come and contradict that very idea. There was a pause as the two came to the realization that Ryoga had gotten away, again.
"He's long gone... isn't he, Tendo?" Genma asked, as both their shoulders slouched at the same time.
"Yes... it would appear we're quiet the failures lately too..." Soun said, eyes watering pathetically.
Moping could only last so long before they came to the conclusion that although Ryoga wasn't around, there was still someone else to deal with, the one that Ryoga had proclaimed his love to. Genma upon reaching this squared his shoulders and tilted his head downward, the sun's light gleaming off his glasses.
"There's still one more thing for me to do, Tendo..."
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Ranma
Once returning from the bathroom the red-headed girl went back into her room, avoiding any contact with the members of the Tendo household, especially Akane. Although Ranma had accepted herself as being with Akane, she couldn't come to face Akane, not after losing someone she considered a close friend... or possibly more. Now in her room, she sat down with the bucket of warm water she had brought with her.
"Been awhile since I was a guy..." Ranma muttered as she stared at her reflection in the water, whenever she'd take the time to look herself in the mirror, as a girl, she couldn't help but feel as though this person wasn't Ranma Saotome but some cruel curse, some stranger that she took the form of, but now she was staring at someone who's feelings were just the same as male Ranma. There was a moment of silence before Ranma took the washcloth from the bucket and dipped it in the water, wringing it out over her head, reverting back to her birth form. For a time, the Saotome prodigy watched as his male reflection looked into his eyes, but soon became obscured as Ranma's damp hair caused some excess to drip into the bucket, each droplet causing a ripple in the water, followed by a soft echoing, 'Is this really me...?' Ranma thought.
Soon after a knocking came at his door, and since the sound seemed rather soft he figured it was Akane. "Look... I don't wanna' talk, Akane..." Ranma replied, heaving out an exasperated sigh.
"Boy! It's your father!" Genma's voice boomed as he slides the door to their room open.
"Huh? Pops?" Ranma asked, shaking off some water. "Leave me alone..." Ranma scuffed, averting his eyes from him, having a pretty good idea as to what Genma was there for.
"Look... I get that you're going through some things, boy... but Ryoga's lost his mind, you're clearly not into him as much as he is into you, right?" Genma asked, the entire time he spoke his glasses were gleaming light off them as if to emphasize the importance of his words.
Ranma for a time only replied with silence, then averted his eyes yet again. "Course I don't..." Ranma said, unconvincingly but such lack of was lost on someone like Genma, who only choose what he wanted to see... and fulfill his promise to Soun.
"I know a thing more two about losing a friend..." Genma sighed, arching his head back as he closed his eyes, the light no longer hiding his eyes, since he changed the angles. In his many years Genma has had to make many promises, only to end up breaking them, causing blossoming friendships to only wither and die, leaving nothing behind but scattered pedals for the winds of time to blow away, ushering the winds of hate.
"You have your whole life ahead of you to make friends... don't waste your hope, on the hopeless," Genma stated.
Throughout Genma's attempt at proper fathering he felt that maybe he could maybe, for once offer some proper advice but that ended the moment he implied giving up on Ryoga, it struck a cord Ranma didn't want being stricken and that caused a vein to bulge. "Out old man..."
"Wait! I do not do-"
"Out!" Ranma shouted, before Genma knew what was happening, he found himself being kicked out of the room, his face colliding with the wall across from it.
Ranma sighed as he leaned his back up against the wall, his eyes staring at the ground beneath him. '"Even as a guy, I'm still thinkin' about him..." Ranma mumbled, but was at least glad that he stopped having flashes of him in his girl form kissing Ryoga, it was then that Ranma's mind flashed to an image of Ryoga and his current male self about to kiss, Ryoga dipping Ranma slightly, Ryoga's hand on the back of Ranma's head.
"That's not better!" Ranma shouted, gritting his teeth, grabbing the sides of his head, tugging at his hair. (It's a joke people, don't get so bent outta' shape lolz.)
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Ukyo & Kodachi
Both Kodachi and Ukyo appeared to be bandaging their wounds, thankfully like everyone else in Nermia, their bodies were built to endure. Kodachi was finishing wrapping some bandages around her arm whereas Ukyo finished wrapping her forehead as it had been left with quite the mark, so much that some blood had seeped its way through some of the bandages, leaving a very visible blood stain.
"If only my foolish brother hadn't taken Sasuke, then I needn't bandage myself!" Kodachi said, whimpering as she wasn't doing all too good of a job on herself.
Ukyo, as time went on, she came to the conclusion that this woman was so insufferable that perhaps she might have been better off without Kodachi, it wasn't worth the headaches having to deal with such a whiny, overly cocky, eccentric woman like her. "Geez! Would you shut up!?" Ukyo shouted, having had enough.
Kodachi being somewhat taken back found that she needed to defend herself. "I am not the one that needs to keep their mouth! You were the one that allowed that fool to charge his attack! Couldn't you simply strike him before his attack was ready!?"
Ukyo took a step forward, holding her clenched fist out towards her. "He would've just shot me at the moment I got close enough!" Ukyo shouted, a blush of embarrassment across her cheeks, but was right to some extent as Ranma had complained about that issue when the ki blasts first began between Ranma and Ryoga. "Whatever! We're done here!" Ukyo exclaimed, reaching for her heavily damaged Spatula, some anime tears dropping from her eyes as he realized that it was pretty damaged. "I'll get Ranma by myself!"
Kodachi narrowed her eyes, "Let's see how far you get!" she shouted, reaching for a nearby dart gun she had kept handy.
Ukyo immediately reached into her pocket and retrieved the cure, right before Kodachi's dart shot the Okonomiyaki chef.
"What!?" Kodachi shouted as she saw that Ukyo had stabbed herself with the cure. "When did?" she asked, looking towards the stand where she kept the shots, which were labeled as 'Epinephrine'.
Before Kodachi even had a chance to look back at Ukyo, the chef had darted towards her at speeds far greater than her average speed and thus the Kuno child was smacked from her side, causing her to be thrown across the room and crash into the wall, Kodachi cringng as she slides down the wall, unconscious.
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Ranma & Akane
This was certainly a rare moment for Ranma as he was attempting to meditate, perhaps find some sort of answer to all this. The pig-tailed boy took a deep breath, relaxing his demeanor as much as he possibly could, his thoughts fading as he simply focused on his breathing, letting the world around him fade, until Ryoga's image flashed in his mind, all the times he had come to his aid, all the times he had challenged him, pushed him to grow and rethink his strategy, all the time they had spent mastering their art and even admitting to one another their importance as friends, even the funny moments didn't escape him as was indicated from the chuckle that came on Ranma face. Then came the awkward and confused feelings of the koi rod incident, past that there were the most recent events, the ones involving their actual interest in one another and how they had gotten to this point. Then came a whispered voice in his mind.
"Ranma Saotome... I love you."
Ranma gulped as she felt that familiar panicky feeling in her chest, the same kind of feeling that came with asking someone out for the first time, he felt scared and nervous as well as a little excited, his breathing becoming a little shallow. It felt as though little steam clouds were coming out of his ears.
"Ranma?" A voiced called out to him, as it opened the door, revealing it to be the blue haired Tendo.
"Ah!" Ranma yelled as he rose his hands to ward off evil, only to see that it was Akane and found himself blushing in embarrassment. Ranma quickly composed himself before addressing her. Akane for her part was a bit confused but decided not to push on Ranma's reaction.
"Ranma... can I talk to you, it's important," Akane stated as she got down on her knees, acting civil towards the pig-tailed boy
Ranma sighed deeply, apparently no one liked to listen to him whenever he wanted some time to think. Well, he figured there was no point in fighting it anymore, "Doubt you're gonna' listen if I say no..." Ranma said, rotating his hand as to usher her onto continuing.
Akane felt a vein pulsate in her head and had to force herself not to go back to her old ways, even though she really wanted to. "Did you mean what you said?" she asked, blushing and looking to the side, holding her hand close to her chin while the other placed firmly on her lap. "About me."
Ranma gave a pause, he had said that when he choose to play it safe and pick Akane. Silence befell the room before Ranma spoke, only building the tension in the room, "Not now..." Ranma replied, choosing to avoid the topic.
The blue haired Tendo knew that this was probably the response given the last events but knew that if she didn't say anything now that it might be too late, but she also didn't want to stop the conversations before it even started, maybe she could ease him into it. "Are you still feeling this way because of Ryoga?"
"Geez, Akane... whatever gave you that idea..." Ranma replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm as an annoyed expression graced his features.
"I'm just trying to help, Ranma!" Akane shouted, leaning forward as she did.
Ranma felt the fire that he used to when dealing with Akane and he acted on it, as there was some clear annoyance he had to deal with. "Oh! That's new! Cause most of the time, you're either hitting me or jumpin' ta' conclusions! Do you know what's it like to be me? Do you know what's it like not to have any real friends, Akane?"
Akane was taken back, she actually did have friends besides Ranma, she used to have Ryoga on top of that. "A-an how's that my fault?" she shot back, blushing in annoyance.
"How isn't it your fault!? The first day I get there turns out most of the guys there are mad for ya', then I come and they say it's okay only to figure out that mosta' em' aren't okay with it!" Ranma finished, lowering his head and scuffing. "Then with you calling me a pervert all the time making it even harder! So I get like zero friends and a hundred loons chasing after me!"
Akane had to take some time to absorb all this and Ranma did have a point, although quite a lot of guys at the school had said they were okay with Akane being off the market, she should have known it couldn't have been that easy, day in and day out all of them fought for the chance to take Akane out on a date and to suddenly give up after working so hard. Of course, they'd hold some resentment, there was, of course, Daisuke and Hiroshi but Ranma could never really connect with them as much as he could with Ryoga. And that was the key word in all of this, Ryoga.
"And what does Ryoga mean to you...?" Akane asked, her head lowered as if dreading Ranma's answer. Though she asked this she still did feel somewhat guilty for the many things that happened to Ranma.
Ranma's eyes widened as the conversation had taken such a sudden turn, "H-he's justa' fri—"
"Come on, Ranma! We both know that's not true! I saw what's happening between you two! I'm not blind!" Akane shouted, trying to stop Ranma before he lied, yet again. "What does Ryoga really mean to you...?" she asked, tears threatening to fall as she awaited his answer.
Ranma gulped as he tried to avoid her gaze, frankly the look of pain in Akane's eyes got to him. They had their differences but deep down they honestly cared for one another, even if she was the cause of grief in his life she was also in a sense like a strange friend, much like Ryoga was to him now. Now here he was being pinned by Akane, forced to answer something he wasn't entirely sure about.
"I... with Ryoga... I..." Ranma paused as it seemed as though he couldn't swallow, his eyes wide as he fought for the answer a blush creeping on his face, feelings similar to what he felt when he had experienced a romantic moment with Akane, which he fought against and tried to deny.
"A-Akane... I..." Ranma felt as though coherent thought escaped him.
It was then that a land crashing sound was heard from Ranma window as Ukyo came through the window.
TO BE CONTINUED...