Coming together as one the two lost souls basked in each other's presence, both for their own reasons. Embracing each other this closely, the two could feel the heat of their battle auras slowly merging into one large spirit fire.
Though they had made the conscious decision to avoid things like this unless they had actually decided, Ranma's excuse helped to mitigate the feelings of guilt. For Ryoga, it was more that he was allowed to indulge in his feelings for the pigtailed teen in front of him. Though his heart cried out for Ranma's affection, he knew that Ranma was only using this as a means to advance her life goals, the only thing that kept him from breaking this training method was that the Lost Teen could sense a glimmer of hope within the otherwise empty abyss.
"R-Ranma, what about our talk with-" Ryoga broke away from the kiss to lean his head into the redhead's neck, 'Please Ranma, give me a sign that my love even stands a real chance!' Ryoga thought in a haze of love and desperation.
"T-this is just training!" Ranma answered, squinting her eyes shut before gasping lightly as she felt his lips kissing her neck.
Having no immediate response, the cursed male teen subconsciously started to kiss harder, 'Goddammit! But I still can't change how I feel!' he thought.
"R-Ryoga! Stop! You'll leave hickeys!" Ranma warned as she struggled against kisses.
During the act, Ryoga fought with everything he had to stop. Doing so for a whole second, Ranma was allowed a second to breathe. "Arrr…" Ryoga growled as he leaned his head away, narrowing his eyes before shutting them and doing as he had before.
"W-what are!?" Ranko asked with a slightly hitched voice, feeling Ryoga take her small but strong hands in his and push her against a nearby tree, her arms over her head as he slid her small frame further up the tree trunk.
"Ryo-ga!" Ranma exclaimed as she panted, feeling that familiar tongue instead of his nipping lips.
"Ranma," Ryoga muttered in between kisses.
One thought remained prevalent in Ranma's head, how come he could completely drop all her defenses by merely expressing some affection? Ranma knew what affection was, at least, parental affection. The affection Ryoga had in mind though was far more akin to the affection shared between two star-crossed lovers. Even though they were close, they might as well have been planets afar.
It was then that she felt her heart reach that point she had felt before when she felt the force of the technique at its strongest. "Spar with me!" she exclaimed as she forced back her romantic haze.
Stopping as he looked up to her, "What does kissing have to do with training?" Ryoga inquired with some tense frustration as he looked up to the girl he was supporting against a tree.
"When I was training with Chingensai, I was able to use the chestnut fist!" Ranko felt some of the strength and aura blazing flutter.
"Are you saying I'm the reason you could-" The Lost teen tried to question but found that Ranko had pressed her lips against his own.
"Y-yeah!" Ranma answered, panting when they parted as her eyes became half-lidded and even genuinely sexy looking; to Ryoga at least.
"What about what we talked about with-" Ryoga asked as he allowed her arms to lower against the bark, glad that his lower half wasn't making contact with the girl otherwise she'd notice how into their unusual training session he was.
"I know I haven't made my mind up but if it helps with training, are you really so against it?" Ranma asked as she looked off to her side, blushing a little.
Taking a deep breath the magically born human shut his eyes and pulled her into a warm embrace, "Guess I'll have to take what I can get…" he muttered as he pulled back and put his cheek to Ranma's face.
Gazing into his eyes when redirecting her face to his, she couldn't help but see the look of utter frustration in Ryoga's eyes. However, she understood that it must have been hard on him. "One more for good luck!" she exclaimed and closed her eyes, wanking the taller boy in and closing her eyes, 'Why do I like this so much? This better work or I broke my word for nothing!' she thought with a heavy inner voice as if she were trying to catch her breath.
There it was again, that feeling of complete shock that filled Ryoga's soul with warmth. He knew that he promised, he knew that he had gone against his word but that couldn't change the fact that getting kissed by surprise was no fault of his own. Was it bad that he was enjoying this? Was it weird that he liked it when Ranma would take the lead? These concepts swam around in his head before fading into the nothingness of his subconscious.
After what felt like a good ten seconds, they pulled back. "Fight me! I need to see something!" she urged, pushing back against him.
"I-Is this what you were getting at?" Ryoga asked, gawking before shaking his head with a knowing smile.
"You know me too well," Ranma replied as the pressure Ryoga was using to hold her against the tree.
Scoffing he closed his eyes and took a few steps back. Moving as if someone had flipped a switch, they charged!
"Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma screamed as she unleashed the technique in its full form, her arms blazing by so quickly that her after images appeared to be like lasers firing in short bursts.
Ryoga did the best he could to defend but found that he was only one out of twenty to thirty punches or kicks, he wasn't sure, it was rather hard to count. Despite that, he couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't done as she had before with the incomplete version of her speed and ki based attack.
Focusing on the feelings that made her feel lighter than air, she honed in on that feeling and used it to fuel her skill. Although she was striking at him with more than enough to break most men, Ranma knew that from their last battle that Ryoga could handle it. That wasn't the point of her asking for help though, she only focused on maintaining the incredible speeds needed to perform this feat.
Ryoga felt as though he was standing in the middle of a force of nature, the strikes that hit him didn't hurt per se but they were gradually pushing him back. His shoes skidded across the dirt beneath his feet as he began to notice certain patterns in Ranma's attack, 'They seem like they're aimless at first but Ranma's falling into a pattern!' he thought.
"Time to end this!" Ranma exclaimed but before she could focus her attack she saw that Ryoga leaped directly at her.
"Ha!" Ryoga roared as they tumbled and rolled backward.
"Oof!" Ranma groaned as she felt the additional holding her down. "R-Ryoga?" she looked to her sides and saw that she had her arms pinned similar to just a few moments ago.
"I decided I'd try something different," Ryoga answered with a slight smirk. "Figured I'd take a page from your book," he explained as he had leaned down closer to her face.
"M-mind gettin' off me den?" she requested with a small blush and wide eyes.
"Y-yeah," Ryoga stuttered as he got off her and chuckled nervously.
Sitting up, the redhead smiled at Ryoga before looking down at her hand. She thought back to her and Ryoga's fight, she clenched her fist closed as she then looked back at Ryoga and fake punched his shoulder.
They looked into each other's eyes and smiled warmly at one another. "H-hey Ryoga, technically you still beat me…" her voice trailed as she looked off to the side, moving swiftly so that she was sitting on her knees.
"Huh, I guess so…" Ryoga replied, looking down sheepishly.
"Wanna' come back home for a bit, maybe get cleaned up while I think up some sorta reward for ya' or sumthin'?" Ranma offered as casually as she could.
"Are you sure, wouldn't Nodoka or Genma be-" Ryoga sat crossed-legged while rubbing the back of his head.
"Pops have been taking a lot more odd jobs and Ma's got things ta' do…" Ranma explained, crossing her arms as she got up onto her feet.
"If that's the case, then sure, I'd be honored," Ryoga said, although recognizing that Ranma had brought up getting cleaned up, he could only guess that maybe they were starting to work up a sweat.
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Once they returned home after a quiet walk, the two came across the home they both started in. Or at least when it came to living in their birth forms or human forms. From what they could see it was starting to get a bit dark outside but what was most notable to them was the smoke coming from their home.
"That smells good…" Ryoga commented as they entered the range they needed to know that Nodoka was busy.
"Yeah, Ma's probably busy getting dinner ready," Ranma commented as she joined the Lost Boy's sentiment.
"It's like I remember it," he added.
"Try coming around more often and ya' won't have ta' just remember," Ranma added as she put her hands behind her head.
From inside, Nodoka stirred a pot while looking out the window to their backyard. There was a pleasant smile across her face as she did so. Her eyes widened when she heard the sounds of footsteps tapping against the porch floorboards.
"Yo! Ma!" Ranma called out, the sound of the door creaking and the soft thudding noise that comes with taking off one's shoes.
"It's so good to see you Ryo-Hibiki-san!" Nodoka corrected herself mid-greeting as she stepped through the kitchen archway.
"H-hello!" Ryoga greeted slightly hesitant, 'Guess she's trying to accept my moving on,' he thought.
Ranma stopped as he entered their quaint living room to see his mother greet Ryoga and then promptly, "Mind if we have some dinner guests, Ma?" she chuckled nervously, a faint tint of red to her cheeks, 'Know I said it was for training but I guess I'm still feelin' weird about it all,' the redhead thought.
"We're having some ramen if that's fine, speaking off…" she trails off as she runs back over to the pot with the noodles.
"Thanks for having me!" Ryoga called out to her with his hand to the side of his mouth, smiling pleasantly as he looked around him.
"You're welcome!" Nodoka called out half shouting as she rushed to save their food.
"Sorry much ain't changed," Ranma responded with a light laugh, looking over her shoulder.
"That's fine," Ryoga shook his head, one of his fangs poking out from his upper lip. "I haven't been gone forever so I'm glad it's all still familiar…" he closed his eyes as he took in the familiar homely scent he had grown accustomed to.
Instantly Ranma felt a strange sensation, the kind he got whenever he saw a cute puppy or say, to a cat, 'Why did my spine crawl just then?' Ranma just thought as the image of a kitten sprung forth into her mindscape.
The redhead decided to focus her thoughts on the cursed teen in front of her, "I know as an animal Ryoga, sniffing around is normal an all but around here all dats gonna' get ya' is unwanted attention," Ranma warned as she chuckled a little and made her way over to the dining room corner table of the living room.
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"Guess I haven't been around normal people enough," Ryoga chuckled with nervous sweat.
"Three old guys, that turn out to be martial arts construction masters training you? Nah, sounds like the most relatable thing to me," Ranma commented, pushing back a small fit of laughter by fighting it off with a warm smile.
"You're doing that sarcasm thing again, aren't you…?" Ryoga's voice trailed as he gave Ranma an annoyed look. "But I guess, it's not…" he added, pouting a bit as he looked off to the side before making his way over as Ranma did.
As if falling back into the habit the two teens took the spots next to each other. They both widened their eyes when Ryoga sat down on his cushion.
"How was training?" Nodoka called over from the kitchen.
Thankful for the interruption, the redhead dodged Ryoga's gaze and rubbed the back of her head. "G-great! One of Ryoga's teachers did me a solid and helped me master the Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma conquered up on the fly.
"It was honestly amazing to see Ranma move so fast," Ryoga praised with his eyes closed and a slight smile.
"C-come on! I ain't the only deserving of praise!" Ranma declared, smiling at the Lost Boy.
"Oh?" Nodoka's face made an O shape as her head leaned back while she prepped some green onions.
"Are you talking about the Bakusai Tenketsu?" Ryoga blushed as he thought about what exactly allowed him to achieve this feat, the image of his former Master's words.
At first, Ranma was unable to make up her mind about what Ryoga's blush was about, why did he blush about that? 'Is he even thinking what I needed him for, for my trainin' or did he need something from me too? And with all the things he and I've done…' the redhead's thoughts if they could be visually represented, they would resemble a conspiracy board full of guilty pleasures.
"Of course!" Nodoka answered as if Ryoga should have known she'd be interested in hearing about his growth.
The clanking of dishes from the other room shook Ranma out from her short-circuiting stupor. "S-same here!" the redhead agreed somewhat absentmindedly.
It was in that instance that Nodoka stepped through the kitchen archway. Three bowls on a large rectangular plate with grip handles on the ends.
A soft but nostalgic feeling hit their nostrils. They could smell it from the other room but not as well as they could sharing the same space as the pleasant aroma wafted into their nose holes.
"I could demonstrate later but right now…" Ryoga felt a familiar sensation take him over, it was the urge to feed.
"Let's eat!" Ranma exclaimed, watching as Nodoka chuckled and began setting out the tableware.
"I can't wait," Nodoka commented as she handed Ranma and then Ryoga their chopsticks.
Although she couldn't help but look between the two martial artists whenever she could, the mother of the Saotome prodigy appeared tense whenever Ranma's or Ryoga's gazes were fixed on her.
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Reaching the back of the Nekoken hut was the spectacled cursed teen. Looking around, the young Master of the hidden arts gave one more look around before putting his back against the wall near the entrance before stepping in unseen.
Inside he found the kitchen area, left as clean as he remembered how he and Nodoka had left it. Slowly and quietly he shut the door behind him, making sure to move around as stealthy as he could. To the far right end of the kitchen was a door with a slab, the characters written stood for "managers office".
"Here we go, good thing I copied the old crone's keys…" Mousse muttered, smirking as he reached into his sleeves and retrieved his copies.
A clicking noise rang in Mousse's ears when opening the door. Looking around he saw what you'd come to expect from someone like Cologne, a room filled to the brim with Chinese cultural references and words of wisdom spread about.
That wasn't the invader's goal though, he scouted around until landing his eyes on a filing cabinet. On each handle was a caption written in Chinese, humming he leaned close and ran his fingers across the length of each caption. He started from the top and worked his way down to the middle, hunching over he walked his pointer finger and middle finger down finely sorted documentations.
"Here it is," he mumbled as he took out a folder and sorted through the sheets.
"So that's where you're at…"
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After the three of them ate, Nodoka gathered the dishes one by one and proceeded to drop the filthy dishes and chopsticks off into the sink.
"You said you'd like a demonstration ?" the bandanna wearing teen asked, looking to the rice paper sliding front door.
"How about we give Ma a two for one?" Ranma offered as she crossed her arms, her overconfidence abundantly clear to all.
"I'd be delighted!" Nodoka exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"Then I'm gonna' need to find a boulder or maybe a big rock," Ryoga said, getting his flats slipped on as he then stood up and opened the front door.
"Thankfully, I don't need nuttin to show off my move," Ranma explained as she flexed her bicep and then put the top of her hand over her finely toned arm.
Wasting as little time as Nodoka could, she cheerfully walked her way over to her sandals, going to slip them on as Ranma finished getting his own pair of flats on. As they stepped out they looked around for their visitor and found him standing before a large boulder, sitting just outside of the forest and at the beginning of the clearing that was part of their pathway home.
"That one's even bigger than the ones in your training field, are you sure about this?" Ranma inquired, admittedly she didn't know all the physics behind the technique but she also figured that Ryoga's choice might shed some light on her question.
"Positive," Ryoga nodded his head with a tame smile.
"Take a few steps back," Ranma warned, looking to her mother while holding her arm out.
"Alright," Nodoka nodded her head, taking the girl's advice she took a few steps back then she, along with Ranma, turned to look at the raven-haired teen.
Spreading his legs for the proper posture, Ryoga's eyes locked on target. Then, much like one of those computers in a spy movie, Ryoga's mental scanner caught sight of the objective, promptly enhancing the image. A familiar spec of light in an otherwise infinite shadow realm sparkled in Ryoga's eyes, though as he honed in on it, a faint image of luminescent dots became visible in his background.
Ranma and Nodoka saw that there was a slight hesitation in the teen's eyes before he narrowed them.
"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryoga roared as he reeled his arm back and extended his finger.
Nodoka's eyes widened in fear as she saw that the yellow-clad Romeo had extended nothing but a single digit. Her thoughts were put to rest as the second the tip of the fang-toothed teen's touched the large mass of minerals, cracks formed from the point of contact, spreading out and separating in a blinding white light before scattering in all directions.
Closing his palm, Ryoga looked to his clenched fist and then to his former mother figure. "What do you think?" he asked, looking at Nodoka as tiny shards of stone fell from his person.
Upon turning to face her, he could see that she had put a hand over where her heart should be. "I was honestly worried I'd have to treat your hand after this," she sighed, relaxing.
"You're not the only one," Ranma admitted as she put her hands behind her head and strolled on over to her favorite sparring partner.
"That's understandable," Ryoga chuckled during his response.
"I thought it was amazing though! How you managed to cause that much damage with a single finger!" Nodoka added with a look of pride.
Ryoga's smile beamed as those words left her mouth, though, he didn't see himself as her son anymore he couldn't help but bask in the fact that the woman he once considered his to be his mother, showing such a level of pride one would typically reserve for their own birth children, 'I'm not even her son anymore, so, why do I feel so warm inside? Isn't too much pride a bad thing? Isn't it greedy?' The Lost Teen's conscience mused on the concept of greed and found itself wandering to the times his greed for Ranma's love led to him engaging intimately without Ranma's so say.
"How's bout sharing some of that spotlight, eh, Ryoga?" Ranma asked and once close enough she dropped her hands down to her sides.
Getting snapped out of his thoughts, the formerly lost in his thoughts Ryoga watched Ranma take a familiar sparring pose.
"I believe Ranma wanted to show me something too?" Nodoka clapped her hands together and then dropped them onto her lap, taking a few steps away so they had some more for Ranma to demonstrate.
Getting snapped out of his thoughts by the person who had caused this inner turmoil was enough to turn any average man into a nervous train wreck. From the cursed teen though? He instead considered it a welcomed relief from his thoughts.
"Always so impatient," Ryoga closed his eyes then scoffed. "But fine, if we gotta'..." his voice trailed as he took his own offensive positive.
"You say dat like you don't like this?" Ranma questioned feigning hurt with a fake frown.
"Then how's about we let our fists do the talking, Saotome!" Ryoga declared right before taking the first swing.
The redhead had a split second to blink at the use of her last name, it wasn't something she expected from someone like Ryoga but she didn't have much time to dwell on it when she saw that before she could manage to complete a thought she nearly faced to face with Ryoga's punch.
Back flipping before he could manage to land his uppercut, the blue-eyed battle maiden took two flips backflips before widening her eyes, remembering the fuel that fed her inner fire! Remembering that it took those embarrassing and lustful moments with the guy she was currently sparring with.
Ranma blanked her mind as she tried to regain control, 'Maybe if I focused more on the times I was more into it,' she thought and her mind's first response to this was her's and Ryoga's time down in the hole.
"Huh?" Ryoga above all things should have been looking out for Ranma's attacks but couldn't help but spot that look he saw from the last time he had endured the chestnut fist.
"They look like red streaks of light," Nodoka commented as she watched Ranma unleash a vicious torrent of punches and strikes.
"Haaa!" Ryoga roared as he struggled against the force of her attacks, even if Ranma was beginning to center her punches again that didn't mean he'd make this easy.
"Haaa!" Ranma began to roar as well, the force of her skill was enough to send the stronger than average teen sliding backward by his heels.
"Argh!" Ryoga knew that he was better off trying to actively deflect Ranma's multiple strikes or at least the ones where the redhead was aiming to weaken his defenses. Whenever he'd sense Ranma accumulating pressure on one centralized point he'd do his best to seize the damage threshold, 'I can't let Ranma think I'm weak!' Ryoga's inner voice declared as he fought off Ranma's concentration points, finding it more and more difficult to defend against the girl.
"Hmph!" Ranma huffed as she closed her eyes and let her arms fall before turning to his Ma.
"You two were incredible!" Nodoka put both her hands over her heart, 'Even though Ranma's a girl and Ryoga's heart leaning towards Ranma, he's still the man who came to brighten up our dreary little lives,' the mother of the Saotome prodigy thought.
Unable to hide it the two martial artists couldn't help but smile warmly at Nodoka's praise, though they had spent time apart. The need to be together was still strong in them.
"Guess I'm pretty worn out, cause I worked up a sweat," Ryoga commented as he took off his headband and started ringing out the sweat.
"You're starting to stink if ya' ask me," Ranma interjected, covering her nose and fanning her breathing space.
"Well, you could take your leave or maybe you'd like I could get a bath ready, a bathtime you could call it," Nodoka chuckled, putting her hand over her lips.
"Been a while since I've heard those words," Ryoga added and rubbed the back of his neck, seeking guidance from his redheaded friend.
"Hey, if you want I'd be more than willing to give ya' a bath like before," Ranma began but found her confidence waning as she neared the conclusion of her offer.
It was as if Ranma were broadcasting her uncertainty. That didn't mean though that Ryoga was against the idea, at least, not entirely. "It is getting a bit late so if I stick around it might be too late," Ryoga added with a slight chuckle as if it were the most casual thing in the world.
"It's up to you, I'll get a bath ready for Ranma in the meantime…" Nodoka's voice trailed as she made her way inside.
"An if ya' want I can get the gloves and I can help you get cleaned up, like before…" Ranma's voice trailed off since if the lost boy stayed for longer there was a bigger chance that he might opt to stay for the night.
Ryoga's blush brightened, not only was he basically being invited over for the night but he was being offered to be bathed by Ranma and girl Ranma no less. Swallowing thickly, Ryoga weighed his options. His heart was in a constant state of flux, but he was tired and the day had been way more eventful than he expected.
"I suppose that's fine," Ryoga looked down as he responded.
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More towards the back of the Saotome hut household was a rather large barrel. From it steamed drifted into the air, but directly inside of it was the adorable black piglet Ranma had come to know as P-chan.
Hovering over him and scrubbing the top of P-chan's tiny little head was the redhead of Ryoga's dreams. There was a content smile on her face as she cleaned away any filth that may have attached itself to the small porker.
"Bwee," the dark-colored livestock mumbled as he appeared to blush gently and sighing deeply.
"You're so lucky I like ya' so much," Ranma muttered as she cleaned behind the pig's ear.
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It was a darky and windy night but that did little to deter the long-sleeved master of the hidden weapon. Though he wasn't often seen in disguise, this occasion called for such a thing. With the information he needed in hand, the long-haired Amazonian male walked across a clearing as the crescent moon hung overhead.
He looked as though he were some mysterious hooded figure, though, thankfully it seemed that no one was watching on this silent night.
"Aww…" Nodoka cooed as she saw that Ranma was sitting on the front porch and drawing off P-chan with a miniature towel.
"Almost done," Ranma muttered as she sat crossed legged, P-chan resting in between her legs as she dried the cute swine off.
P-Chan appeared to be on the verge of sleeping, his wide expression-filled eyes were now filled with exhaustion earned from a hard day's work. It was then that he heard the sound of a towel hitting the ground, this caused him to stir but not long enough to recognize the fact that it was done so that Ranma could gently touch her cursed friend as she had before.
"You know, I always said I should have petted you more when you were gone…" Ranma's voice trailed softly as she scratched behind Ryoga's ear.
P-Chan's eyes squinted, trembling as he fought off any urges he had to either kick his leg or show how content he was. "Please stay the night Ryoga…" Ranma muttered as she watched the cursed animal lean into the pampering.
"If you do, I'll even stay as a girl for the night, just for you…" Ranma choked on her words and looked off to the side, looking uncertain and beat red from the suggestion.
P-Chan's eyes widened as he looked over to the redhead that haunted his dreams, had she just offered to stay a girl for the night?
'Should I? Would Ranma be okay if I wanted to stay a guy and-and!?' P-chan's thoughts swarmed like an angry hive of bees.
"Ranma Saotome!" a voice echoed as a hooded figure called out to them.
"Huh!?" Ranma looked to the source of the sound.
"I need to have a word with you!" said cloaked figure reached for their hood and revealed himself to be the cursed feathered fowl known as…
Mousse.