Nodoka's Son

By: DaisukiFox

Author's Note: I'm back... I know that this story has been technically canceled. I've decided that I want to write this as a way for me to say... I think I found a way for me to enjoy the continuation of the Boyfriend/Girlfriend series.

It took me awhile but I finally see what everyone saw in the regular Nodoka's Daughter... first off quite a few grammatical errors. I tried my best to edit this chapter but also change up the progression of this story.

It changed what the series was leading up to, RanmaXRyoga. I think that's where I went wrong... despite me giving a decent portrayal of Akane. I still wanted this to end as a Ranma and Ryoga... it's just that Akane stands in the way. That's one of the things this story will address.

This story is about dismantling the RanmaXAkane relationship, showing why it can be broken simply given how incompatible the two are. This is a challenge that gets me excited... the thing is. I have to do it well. Ranma and Ryoga also have an advantage Akane has yet to take care of.

Anyway, there's some cool news at the bottom of this page. Sorry for taking a bit there was quite a bit to go over.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma1/2! Ranma 1/2 is owned by Viz Media and Rumiko Takahashi!

Kasumi

The eldest sister of the Tendo's was vacuuming the hall, near the front entrance. Not a care in the world as she hummed to herself, that was until someone knocked on the front door. "Just a minute!" she shouted, turning the household appliance off, going over to the door and opening it.

"Hello? Oh! It's been so long, please come in!" Kasumi ushered as she stepped back and allowed the door to open enough to see who was on the other side.

"Thank you Kasumi, I have to say..." Nodoka said, stepping inside.

Kasumi clasped her hands together, resting her hands on her apron.

"It's been too long since I've last seen Ranko and Mr. Panda," Nodoka stated.

Kasumi took a sharp but subtle intake of air, only being noticeable as a very slight shrug of her shoulders, thankfully, much like Kasumi, she too often smiled while closing her eyes. "Oh! Please let me go get them!" she offered, clasping her hands together quickly enough to make them clap.

"Oh, that's alright, I have something I want to surprise her with!" she said reaching her hand up into her sleeve, pulling out a red yukata a pink sash around the waist, the sash having floral designs littered about on it, she quickly turned to the stairs and ran off, more than likely heading for Ranma and Genma's room.

Kasumi's gentle and motherly eyes widened, fear evident on her face as she had no idea how to possibly call out Ranma and Ryoga names without seeming suspicious, 'What do I do? Oh!' she thought in a panic, then as if a bell went off in her head, she found a loophole, hopefully, it would be warning enough for Akane to get the message.

"Akane! Company!" Kasumi called out, her hand to the side of her mouth, the girl's voice taking on a noticeably worried hitch. The mother of the Saotome's was far too eager to even listen to Kasumi's call to the blue haired girl as she was already ascending the stairs.

Akane

Akane sat in her room, contemplating the various events that occurred just a while ago, to think that she would be here now, in her room, technically dating two men. Of all the chaos surrounding Ranma, she really expected something a little crazier, in fact, Akane knew that relationships like this were not all too uncommon but from what she's heard it's often associated with being perverse. 'I can't believe I'm actually doing this, with two guys,' she thought, tightening the grip on her pen. Then the lost boy came into the equation, not only was she Ranma's girlfriend but didn't that also mean she had to be Ryoga's girlfriend? This was an immense amount of things for Akane to process, hadn't she only just recently learned of Ryoga's curse? Now she was dating him too? 'The things I do for that jerk, I swear...' she thought, however, with far less aggravation in her tone, in fact, it almost sounded tame, even a little cheerful sounding.

Her face became flushed so many ideas swarming her mind, she had two incredibly powerful, two incredibly attractive young martial artists as her boyfriends. She would have never considered herself to be 'that' type of girl, "I don't think I can study..." she mumbled to herself, subconsciously moving her pen on top of the page.

Finally, she noticed in the corner of her eye that her hand was moving about, she was met with several scribbles of Ranma's name, some versions of his name were either crudely drawn animals or sea creatures next to them, she hoped to Kami-sama nobody would see these.

"Akane! Company!"

At first the blue haired girl thought nothing of it, assuming it to be someone from school may be coming over to give her today's homework, that was until she heard the sliding door to Ranma's room slide open, the abrupt action caused the sword on Nodoka's back to jostling about, which made several loud clinking noises. 'Wait? Where have I... Ranma!' she thought, her mind reaching the conclusion so quickly that she rose up from her seat, turning her homework sheet around; just in case.

Once outside of her room, she saw Nodoka slightly hunched forward, poking her head into what she assumed was Ranko's room. "Hmm... they're not here," she muttered to herself, sounding disappointed as she rose to a standing position.

"Mrs. Saotome!" Akane exclaimed, her voice coming out as a combination of pleasantly surprised and deathly worried.

Nodoka had stopped to ponder for a brief moment, seizing her search in order to properly greet the blue haired girl, "Akane, dear!" she said, waving to the Tendo girl.

"Have you seen, Ranko?" she asked, somehow magically pulling out a folded, pink floral, yukata, proudly displaying it with a smile.

There was no greater annoyance to Akane than to be only given about as much prep time as a fire alarm going off, in her own house. "Well, you see..." she trailed off, the youngest of the Tendo family racked her brain for any ideas.

"Oh! I bet I know where she is!" Nodoka declared, bumping her closed fist into her open palm, reaching said unspoken conclusion, she continued her search for Ranko downstairs.

Ranma & Ryoga

The two martial artists descended the stairs in their beaters, as their shirts were swung over their shoulder while one of their hands held a water bottle, beads of sweat littered about on their bodies, obviously needing to take a breather.

"Not bad, Pig-Brain... not bad..." Ranma smirked, wiping his brow with his forearm, then unscrewing the lid from his water bottle he took a quick drink.

Ryoga tilted his head back as he drank from his own water bottle, though, while doing so he had one eye watching the pig-tailed boy,"I've noticed you've really been laying on the pig jokes Ranma, any reason?" he asked.

"Maybe it's a pet name... P-chan..." Ranma looked to the lost boy, who blushed and looked away, not sure if that was a compliment or an insult, especially considering what they were now. The Saotome prodigy sensed Ryoga's confusion, so he placed one hand on his shoulder, "Wow...even as a guy I can get this outta' you, Ryoga?"

Ryoga felt that Ranma was making light of the situation, which actually did help, although Ranma seemed to be teasing, he could tell that he meant what he said and now Ryoga knew, it was Ranma's way of expressing his feelings,

"What can I say... you have a womanly charm to you, Saotome..." Ryoga smirked, closing his eyes and tilting his head down.

"Huh..." Ranma paused, his eyes darting from left to right.

Ryoga was snapped out of his little attempt at flirting when he noticed Ranma hadn't actually said anything but appeared to be on the alert, "Ranma? Something wrong?"

The pig-tailed martial artist stared at the Tendo home for a little, figuring it was nothing, shrugged. "Eh... probably nuthin'," Ranma concluded, raising his water bottle and tilting his head back.

"Ranko!" Nodoka shouted, opening the back door which leads to the dojo walkway, holding up a pink yukata in her hands.

Upon hearing his mother's voice, Ranma's eyes bugged out, his mouth closing, allowing the water to spill onto his face, which in turn drizzled down to his body, activating her curse and changing her into the one Nodoka had been hoping to speak to.

"Auntie Nodoka!" Ranma said, waving to her while holding one closed palm underneath her chin as to maintain her sweet and innocent act for Nodoka.

Akane coming in at the last second, about to say something but unable to get her words out, 'She's so fast!' Akane thought, having dashed as quickly as she could yet saw that she was clearly nowhere near as fast as the Saotome mother.

Ryoga turned to Ranma and wondered what had come over him, then upon seeing Nodoka's face, he leaned back and placed his hand behind his head, the other waving awkwardly, as if his arm was a rusty hand water pump, 'I don't know who this Nodoka person is but if Ranma's got to cover up her own name then I guess I better play along...' he thought.

"Ranko! I have someth-" Nodoka paused, eyes going wide for a second as she saw the strong looking young man known as Ryoga as if to further prove how manly he looked, he appeared to have strong and clearly noticeable fangs.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I must have interrupted you two!" Nodoka giggled, the end of her hand covering her mouth as she felt excited to see Akane's cousin finally find herself a man and one so manly, plus oddly enough, cute looking too. If she had to say something about him, he had a very animalistic charm about him.

Ranma and Ryoga stared at her, Ranma's jaw going slack, her mother thought she had a boyfriend, 'She ain't wrong but if I ever want to tell her...' she thought, worry filling her tone.

Ryoga had been looking to Ranma when he heard how bold a claim Nodoka was making. The red-headed girl of his dreams was in need, he noticed that she was taking a little longer than usual to actually say something, figuring that now was his time to act. 'Damn it...' was his final thought before acting.

"No! We're just training!" Ryoga exclaimed, looking away in a huff and crossing his arms, getting a nervous smile and faint rosy coloring to his cheeks.

Akane and Ranma found sweat drops forming on the back of their heads, not really expecting her to buy such a poor performance on Ryoga's part.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought you were!" Nodoka replied, placing her hand over her mouth 'looks like someone's a little shy...' Nodoka thought to herself, having quite the poker face as her expression remained the same throughout the entire conversation, coming off as completely oblivious.

Ranma only lost her footing for a moment, arching her head back before catching herself on one foot and maintaining her balance, her eyes had looked as though they expanded several times larger than usual, almost as though they were tiny airbags with black dots on them.

Akane on her part found herself tripping on her side, her hands warding away any more possible obliviousness, cause around Ranma and his family it was certain to spread like wildfire.

Ryoga rubbed the back of his head, laughing bashfully.

"Anyways, where are my manners? I'm Nodoka, are you one of Ranma's friends?" Nodoka asked, smiling and tilting her head to one side; much like a curious puppy.

The lost boy sighed inwardly, again. Why was he constantly forced to lie? Whatever the reason was for this charade, he wanted Ranma to be happy, "Yeah, I'm Ryoga Hibiki... I guess you could call us that," Ryoga nodded his head, keeping a straight face, though, it was more like he was annoyed inwardly but knew that Ranma and Akane weren't at fault, it was more like the universe was out to get him, kind of annoyance.

"More like rivals," Ranma commented, crossing her arms and looking to Ryoga, 'Keep saving me and I'm gonna' start feelin' like Akane,' she thought, her inner voice expressing gratitude as well as hoping her little remark about being rivals would also act as a way for her to convey thanks to Ryoga.

"Oh? Really? You have to tell me, is my son manly?" Nodoka asked, moving really quickly, standing a few feet away from the lost boy, making him lean back in shock.

As those words escaped Nodoka's mouth Ryoga was able to tell now that Nodoka was, in fact, Ranma's mother, which meant that earlier when she mistook them for a couple. She was indirectly saying that she thought Ranma in girl form made an ideal girlfriend for him. To Ryoga it felt as though she had given him her blessings, which really brightened the lost boy's mood, then to see her ask him if Ranma was manly? 'Why does she care about something like that?' the lost boy but he went along with it anyway.

"Um... yes?" Ryoga quirked a brow, although, still very happy from the inside, he still had to properly respond to the mother of his girlfriend.

The blue haired girl went over and clapped her hands together, "Mrs. Saotome, I get that you wanted to see, Ranma?"

"Oh! I'm sure that can wait for a second, Akane!" Nodoka said, fanning her hand towards Akane for a moment, excited to know that not only was her son strong but he managed to get himself not only a friend but even went as far as making a rival out of him.

Ranma was only glad that his mom thought of a rival as a good thing, probably attributing it to Genma and Soun's friendship. Ranma knew that Ryoga should say very little as this moment was quite delicate.

Ryoga leaned back, getting a very good look at the woman in front of him, 'She looks kinda' like Ranma's girl form!' he thought, then blushed in embarrassment.

Akane felt that Ryoga's actions could be misunderstood and quickly thought to cover for him. "Sorry! He's a little shy at first... but he's a really nice guy," Akane stated, looking to Ryoga and smiling gently.

"I've been Ranma's rival since middle school and yeah, he's insanely strong, every fight feels like a rush..." Ryoga replied, keeping a strong look to his face, causing the Saotome mother to smile, although, only momentarily. Everything he was saying actually felt sincere, though that rush came more from the most recent sparring match they had.

"I take it you don't want to ask?" Akane said, tilting her head as she was shocked to have that, not be the first thing she tries to do.

"I know I'm just not that lucky, I'm afraid..." Nodoka sighed as if expecting some sort of queue, which she was given.

"Sorry, you j-just missed them..." Akane stated, an anime sweatdrop forming on the side of her head, "They're on another training trip..." Akane said bowed her head, hating that she always had to use this excuse, knowing the disappointment it would raise, 'Normally I'd want to push for Ranma to tell her but with Ryoga...' Akane paused, looking to Ryoga and then to Ranma, unable to tell what the right course of action was.

"It's alright, Akane, I wasn't even here for Ranma this time..." she said, her voice going a little soft as she looked to the ground.

Ranma's face appearing saddened by this turn of events. She reached her hand out and was going to place it on Nodoka's shoulder until she smiled and raised her head. "I'm sorry... I must have ruined the mood," she commented, placing her hand on her cheek, feeling shy. "And all I wanted was for Ranko to try this yukata on!"

Ranma's eyes widened yet again as she was staring at a very beautiful yukata, which of course made her wonder what Ryoga thought of it, when she turned to see she saw that the lost boy was staring with his mouth agape and eyes wide open, clearly envisioning something that involved Ranma dressed in that yukata.

Even Akane had to admit, the dress would look rather nice on Ranma, she could easily pull off that color given her girl form, "Oh! That's right! It's almost time for the spring festival! I completely forgot!" Akane chuckled a little, trying to not make a big deal out of it, especially given everything that has happened up till now.

"I'm sorry your fiance isn't here to take you..." Nodoka said, apologizing in advance, following it up with a light bowing of her head while she kept the yukata held up to Ranma.

"It's alright!" Akane assured her, fanning one hand repeatedly. "I didn't remember either and I'm sure he wouldn't know what to do with that info anyways, he's really no Romeo..."

Ranma looked to the side when Akane mentioned that she wasn't a Romeo when in guy form, somewhat embarrassed but knew that it was mostly true, not that she'd ever admit that though.

Nodoka chuckled and placed her hand over her mouth, "I suppose he gets it from his father, Genma was so shy when we first met, even on our first date... although I had to pay for our first meal, he was always so grateful afterwards... like a real man..." she swooned a little, especially since that was when Genma had hair.

The redheaded girl saw the disappointment from everything that was said between them and figured, 'I can't be Ranma for you mom but maybe... maybe I can be Ranko for you...' Ranma thought, then reached for the yukata Nodoka had brought her, she had to admit, from a man's perspective this would look really good on her.

"Alright... let me try this on," Ranma said, seeming disgruntled but secretly excited that she could probably give Ryoga a little show, a modest show, it was a yukata after all.

Nodoka clapped her hands together and closed her eyes, "Thank you," she said, smiling gently.

Shampoo & Kuno

Even they had to admit that taking down Mousse in his current condition would be cruel and also quite dishonorable. The teen smelled foul, most noticeably of dung from the forest. Shampoo was seen finishing on the knot to the back of Mousse's bindings, fastening it nice and tight but when she pulled back she noticed how dirty her hands had become, so, she immediately went to her supplies and grabbed a bar of soap.

"Hm... it's been awhile since I've seen this welp..." Kuno commented, looking to Mousse, 'Oh yes... I remember this one from our last encounter, it would appear he's finally sought me out ...' Kuno thought, trying to boost his confidence since he knew that this man was certainly going to be the one to challenge him for Shampoo's hand. He lowered his head and wondered if his training with Cologne was sufficient, there, however, was another option, the thought slowly coming together in his head as he hummed to himself.

"I know that look, child..." Cologne commented as she had been sitting nearby, of course also thinking about what to do with Mousse, however, she did not like the look on Kuno's face, it implied something else sinister.

"Why? He wishes to take lady Shampoo from me..." he commented, looking to the aged master, "Do you wish for me to die?" he asked, his arms crossing and going up into his sleeves.

"No child... I don't wish death on any of you," there was a pause, "Well, not anymore..." she paused, looking to Kuno, to which he responded by twitching his brow and giving her a look that one would assume is the combination of shock and annoyance, his mouth partially agape.

"I wouldn't let him take yours..." Cologne continued, clearing her throat before sighing in exhaustion.

"Is that not breaking your traditions? Are you not amazons, those who adhere to fierce laws?" The blue thunder questioned, quirking a brow.

"Child, simply helping you, has been breaking tradition... just the fact that she wasn't able to marry son-in-" Cologne paused, closing her eyes once before opening them, "Ranma... normally many in the tribe wouldn't allow this to go unpunished but my position weighed heavily enough that I was able to keep them from outright banishing her for life..."

"I did not know that... but how does this answer my question?" Kuno asked, though he was pushing for his answer, he did hear everything that was said, Shampoo was risking so much just to find a husband.

"My point is that I care deeply for my great-granddaughter and for some reason she also cares for Mousse, though she has been growing fond of you, she has unfinished business with him, unsettled business between childhood friends..." Cologne said, becoming serious. "That is why I cannot allow you two to kill each other..."

"Hm... you've already broken this many rules, what's the harm in breaking a few more? Especially if you don't get caught..." Kuno added, feeling a little bothered that he couldn't simply do what Mousse probably intended to do and off him right then and there.

"Relax that overworked mind of your's child, I've got an idea..." she stated, curling her wrinkled face into a smile.

Dining Room

The others gathered in the dining room as Ranma was seen walking off to the bathroom, yukata tucked under her arm. The mother of the Saotome's sat in front of the table, getting a pleasant view of the koi pond.

"Wouldn't you like to sit down?" Nodoka asked, looking to Ryoga who was currently standing at the corner of the room, opposite to the corner of where the television was on.

"Don't mind me... I'm fine with standing, what I want to know is... what's with that sword on your back?" Ryoga asked, noticing that it was just there, almost as if Nodoka didn't have it at all or was treating it similar to the way someone holding a purse would, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'm not sure if Ranma's ever told you this..." she sighed, looking at the table in front of her. "but this sword is for both my husband or my son, Ranma..." Nodoka said, tightening her grip on the hilt of her sword as she choked up at the mention of her son's name.

"What!?" Ryoga gasped, suddenly becoming frightful at the idea, taking a step away from the walls. The sides of his arms against the sides of his torso as his forearms were held out in front of him, his hands clenched into fists. "You can't mean that!"

"Oh! I'm sorry! Let me explain!" Nodoka chimed up, smiling nervously with her eyes closed as she waved one of her hands out defensively.

The lost boy contained himself when he saw Akane's expression plead for him to calm down, the lost boy sighed and closed his eyes, gulping and taking a deep breath, relaxing his demeanor to the point of slouching his shoulders a little.

"Ranma must have been a very good friend to you if you're this bothered by the news..." Nodoka commented, looking to the boy with a gentle expression, "I'm sure you have no reason to worry, you yourself told us how manly Ranma is."

"It's actually part of a contract going on between Nodoka and Mr. Saotome..." Akane clarified, speaking up from the right of Nodoka's field of vision, sitting on her knees, hands on her lap.

Ryoga closed his eyes and tilted his head down a little, containing his anger for the bald mooch, he controlled the homicidal rage within himself to continue. "You asked me if Ranma was manly, right?... is that what this contract is about?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes," Nodoka confirmed, remembering the day that Genma had made her sign the contract.

The way she fought for Ranma to be allowed to grow up with his mother, though, that would not give her a manly son Genma promised, "When Ranma was but a child, Genma asked me to train Ranma, make him a true man among men..." she paused and then partially unsheathing the sword to expose the sharpness of her blade, showing that she did maintain not only her honor bound contract but also kept her blade sharp, for the unfortunate day she may have to use it.

"If Ranma fails to be a man among men... then I have to..." she replied, she dipped her head a little, not liking that she had to tell this tale again but she had to, in order to ease Ryoga's troubled mind, "He must commit ritual seppuku before my eyes... then I..." she stopped, her hands trembling as they shook the sword sheath, ergo causing the blade within to rattle around.

The pig-tailed girl walked down the hallway, getting past Soun's room and eventually making it outside the dining room, however, the side Ranma was approaching from was the one behind Akane's. She sensed the fear and anger emitting from Ryoga's aura, she knew because none aside from Ryoga could reach such in an intense feeling of emotion, well... aside from Akane.

"How's it look?" Ranma asked shortly after shoving one of the sliding doors open, letting all the others see how stunning she looked in her new yukata. Ranma noticing Ryoga's battle aura dwindling as his eyes jumped from her mom too her.

There was no moment more than right now, that Ryoga truly lived up to his title of 'Lost boy' as his eyes went to get lost in Ranma's. The way her blue eyes shimmered in the light only helped to draw the fang-toothed boy in, even when she looked away from him in embarrassment.

Akane's eyes widened as she was sure even Ranma put her to shame when it came to trying on yukatas.

Nodoka looked to Ranma and smiled, clapping her hands together, "Oh! It looks so good on you, dear!" she said, congratulating the redhead, she turned to look to Ryoga, she was greeted with an odd sight.

Ryoga looked as though he was in awe of the crimson haired beauty that stood before them.

Ranma squirmed under Ryoga's gaze for a bit, then from the corner of her eye she noticed Nodoka's expression changing, she traced the source to Ryoga, 'Ryoga! Snap out of it!' she thought, but couldn't help but smile just the slightest bit, hardly visible as she had leaned her head away from both Ryoga and Nodoka, only one of her alluring eyes now keeping Ryoga's attention.

To Ryoga in his overly active imagination, he envisioned a hazy looking grassy hill with flowers littered about and he and Ranma running through the flowers, her dressed in that yukata all the while, laughing without a care in the world while holding each other's hands.

Akane knew from past experiences what was going on, she had seen first-hand how Ranma's ego worked. Judging by how close Ryoga was to drooling, her head must have been massive.

"S-so! Mrs. Soatome I'm pretty sure you knew the spring festival was coming..." Akane stated, not having bought that whole just there for Ranko to try out the yukata she bought her.

"Aw... you saw right through me, Akane," Nodoka placed one hand to her cheek and giggled, her eyes closing.

Ryoga was thankfully snapped out of his thoughts, as was Ranma, the two were thankful to have Akane save them from their blunders, 'Okay now he's screwing up a little... I need some sorta' excuse to get Pig-boy up to speed!' she thought.

"The tea is ready!" Kasumi said, cheerful with her eyes closed until she opened them to see Ranma in her dress. "Oh! That color goes well with your hair, Ranko!" the eldest sister said before moving over to the table where everyone was seated and calmly stood before Nodoka.

Learning over and serving their teacups, white hazy mists floated above their cups. Nodoka, Akane, and Kasumi each reached for their respective cups.

It wasn't that Ryoga wasn't able to hold the teacup in his hands, it was just that he'd have to get closer to Nodoka and seeing as that sword was meant for his current romantic partner, 'What can I do? If I do something stupid I could lose....' Ryoga thought to himself.

"Oh... hey! Ryoga! I just remembered something!" Ranma exclaimed, making her way over to Ryoga while scratching the back of her head, "I need to talk to you about that 'thing'..." Ranma said when she stood before him and reached for the lost boy's wrist.

"Huh? What thi-" felt the redheaded girl tighten her grip on his wrist. "Oh! The thing! We really should take this!" Ryoga said, appearing nervous the entire time as he bowed his head repeatedly.

"Take your time!" Nodoka said, smiling at the odd couple.

Ranma certainly had no poker face, that was for sure. Ryoga was often a mass of emotions and confusion, it wasn't impossible but most of the only ones that have ever failed to see his true feelings had to be the blue haired girl; Akane.

Akane just watched the looks exchanged between Ranma and Ryoga, that was something she wished she could have with the pig-tailed girl, while, maybe when 'she's' a he. 'W-what am I thinking about! Of course, we have that... just not as much as before...' Akane thought, her thoughts leading to keeping her closed fist just above her mouth. She honestly wanted to tell them to get a room too while they were at it! Then for good measure throw something at them before leaving the room.

Ranma dashed away with Ryoga in tow, making their way up the stairs from the sounds of their thudding footsteps.

"Those two would look so cute together, wouldn't they?" Nodoka asked, turning to Akane with her hands on her lap.

The youngest of the Tendo's averted her eyes and blushed a little, well, she thought they looked cute together, it was just very awkward for Akane right now since she was dating both. She wasn't sure what exactly to feel at the moment, however, Kasumi only placed her hand over her mouth and giggled.

"So, I forgot to ask but... where's Soun Tendo? It's been awhile since I've seen him too," Nodoka inquired, smiling and hoping to greet a friendly face.

"Oh? Father's not here at the moment, I believe he's out... running some errands!" Kasumi stated, sounding hesitant with the last portion of her response, as clearly, she had to figure out what would be the least harmful to her father's image, however, she wondered if that was in vain due to his 'Poke' addiction, he was sure to be discovered soon enough.

"Oh..." Nodoka blinked.

Genma & Soun

Two happy drunks merrily walked on their way home, each with a sake bottle in hand, their arms on each other's shoulders. In their other hands were deck boxes, each having a Poke'mon drawn on the sides, sporting the Poke'mon logo on them as well.

"I scant believe we banaged to-toot-" Genma began but stopped to burp momentarily, his blush becoming a little bigger now. "Gets such good dard-cards..." the bald martial artist said needing to correct himself. Leaning away from Soun and holding his deck box up to his face, the satisfaction of actually getting a good amount of holographic cards burning within him.

"Jess we did! Sour-toe-hay...!" Soun responded, giggling shortly after and closing his eyes, his eyes now mirroring the expression of the character he was currently cosplaying as; Brock. "H-Hey! I've grabbed an idea Shower-tome!" paused to see if Genma would respond, to which he did, by nodding his head. "Good... I sink the dofo-domo? Dojo! Can be a place to... hold dart tournaments!"

"Dat's just cupid, Bento!" Genma replied, finding the concept of holding a darts competition in the dojo stupid. "I've got it! We'll-" paused to keep himself from throwing up, by swallowing it back down, "hafta' Poke'mon card-" Genma paused, losing his train of thought momentarily. "...tournament!" he exclaimed as they walked, hands on his hips, still holding his things in his hands.

"A Poke'Dojo?" Soun asked, tipping backward a little as they walked together before leaning himself forward, as to maintain his balance.

"Jeah! I bean...pfft! Bean! I mean! Yeah!" Genma exclaimed, arching his head back and laughing at his blunder.

"Jets do it, Pen-ma!" Soun replied, raising his deck box up to clank it against Genma's deck box as well before they attempted to drink from said deck boxes and then brought their deck boxes down, sighing in contentment.

"The fut-bol-future looks good, Sound!" Genma cheered.

"Penma... are dose ours?" Soun asked, pointing to the cards that had flown out of their deck boxes since they so foolishly drank from them and went as far as not even noticing the cards probably fall onto their faces.

Nabiki & Happosai

Nabiki contemplated her next course of action, what do to if two of the bets collided? Would they split it? No, Nabiki didn't want to split it. Though what else could she do? Force Ranma and Ryoga to like each other more than Akane? And after everything, she's gone through for her sister, to go behind her back for money? No. It seems that destiny was not on her side for once, she actually allowed one of her family members to be happy.

"You're so lucky you're my sister, Akane..." Nabiki commented sighing, to think Akane would actually go with the three-way option, 'Top of that Kuno baby isn't paying as much now that Shampoo's got her claws on him...' she thought, missing the business and revenue he generated. 'Wonder if I can make some money off them...'

"Nabiki!" Happosai shouted, running along the chain-link fence surrounding the ditch that leads to the Tendo dojo, however, this time, he didn't have the two actors Nabiki had first assigned him.

The brown haired girl looked over her to shoulder to see him stop just behind her, the Tendo girl having to look up as Happosai choose to speak from there, "I want Ranma and Ryoga to do another play! Those two replacements ya' got weren't good enuff!" Happosai exclaimed, throwing his arm out to his side.

"Well... I'm sorry Happosai, I need some sort of incentive to actually set something up like that," Nabiki stated, with her eyes closed.

"I've got fifty thousand yen waitin' for ya' if you do!" The aged martial stated, digging into his pocket and revealing the money to the brown haired girl, who upon seeing it slowly felt a smile creep on her face.

"I'll see what I can do..." she smirked, knowing that Happosai didn't have a job, not to mention the fact that he probably would never get hired considering his history with the residents of the district, 'Clean money or dirty money? I can't really the difference sometimes...' she thought counting the bills.

"Ranma, Ryoga... get ready for act two..."Nabiki announced, using her thumb to flick through the bills. Satisfied with what she heard, she hummed quietly before opening her eyes and nodding her head.

Ushering for her client to follow with a wave of her hand.

Happosai eagerly followed, forcing down his excitement by covering his mouth.

Genma & Soun

The two could be seen reaching the fence of the Tendo dojo, the head of the household looked to his longtime friend and belched, starting to feel tired. Practically falling asleep, only awoken by Genma trying to reach the front gate.

"Wait! Saotome!" Soun exclaimed sounding much soberer than before, catching the father of the Saotome's to look over his shoulder and look at him with a bewildered look. "I don't want my d-dear sweet Kasumi, to see me like this..." he commented about the fact he was dressed as Brock and reeked of alcohol.

"Den what are we supposed to do?" Genma asked, looking to Soun and he saw that his cosplaying friend was gesturing to the fence, is that he was still partially intoxicated it took him a second longer than usual to figure out that he meant to jump the wall.

Soun rolled his eyes and noticed Genma finally meeting his train of thought, then noticed Genma taking the appropriate squatting position for jumping, "Not through the fr-front Saotome! The back, much less sus-suspicious!" he stated, lifting a finger in a matter-of-fact way, though his finger couldn't help but sway, as did his head.

The two drunks ran around the side of the Tendo home, hoping to enter without being seen and hopefully sleep off their intoxication.

Ranma & Ryoga

The pig-tailed martial artist leads Ryoga up the stairs, mentally kicking herself for not finding a better excuse to talk to him and form some kind of strategy to this whole predicament. When they reached the top of the flight of stairs Ranma shoved Ryoga to her shared room, closing the door behind her as she pressed her back to it.

Finally allowed to move on his own, thanks to Ranma he stumbled forward a little but quickly recovered and straightened his posture, "Okay, so what exactly is going on? That's really your mom?" Ryoga asked, pointing in the direction of the stairs.

"Uh-huh..." Ranma nodded her head, closing her eyes, "Okay... the reason behind this whole 'Ranko' thing is just some cover we made to hide the fact that it's not me," Ranma stated, "Pops thinks that if we tell her that I can become a girl, she'll make him uphold his whole stupid contract!"

"What!? Why do you have to hold up your side of the deal? It's not like you-" Ryoga paused as it was only until he noticed her becoming timider with every passing word, her eyes averted his and a blush of embarrassment creep on her face, "Goddamn it, Ranma... how?" he asked sounding exasperated.

"Hey! It's not like I actually made the choice! The old man made the deal when I was too young ta' know any better..." Ranma said, only letting her anger flare slightly since being too loud about this particular subject could spell the end for them. "He made me use my handprint as my signature..."

Ryoga sighed heavily, Genma only had to go and complicate things for the lost boy. He reminded himself that if the opportunity to ever strike Genma comes up, he's going to take it, "Whatever, we'll deal with this... speaking of, how are we going to do this, Ranma?" Ryoga asked, taking a step closer to the redhead.

"I don't know... just remember that I'm 'Ranko' and pops is Mr. Panda, I'm Akane's cousin and I'm visiting for awhile, you're pretty much a tenant here now that Soun charges you for rent... long as we can find it in your home," Ranma said, pretty sure she covered everything.

"My home..." Ryoga muttered quietly, then it hit him! Maybe one time he could take Ranma to spend the night at his house! Though he immediately released how his thoughts could be interpreted and he soon found himself blushing a little. There were more pressing matters to attend to, now that he had been briefed, this could be his only chance, considering Nodoka's presence. "Ranma... what about us?" Ryoga asked, meeting her eyes as he took another step closer to the girl.

"We can't let her know I'm Ranma, so, guess I'm stuck like this for awhile..." Ranma said, sounding disappointed.

"Let me make myself clear..." Ryoga said, taking a serious tone with Ranma as he reached out for her hand and took it into his own, "What about us?" he asked, his gaze going soft as he stared into the redhead's blue pools.

Ranma's response to having her hand grabbed as though she were a dainty princess was to roll her eyes and looked off to the side, somewhat annoyed but figuring she at least owed him this, with that in mind she continued. "We're going to make it through this..." Ranma admitted, not sounding as sure as she'd like.

Catching on, Ryoga was able to see what Ranma had in mind, he stared vacantly, he weighed his options, 'Ranma... would you really accept never having your mom see the real you...?' the lost boy pondered.

"I know this is a lot to take in..." Ranma sighed deeply through her nose, eyes cast to the floor, "Don't you dare think about leaving me! Not after everything I've been through for you!" Ranma half shouted, glancing downstairs and then setting her sights on Ryoga.

"Do you really think that little of me!?" Ryoga shot back, clenching a fist out in front of him. "Have you got any idea what I've gone through!? Yes, we have your girl side but no matter what! It means, I'm..." Ryoga blushed, choking on his words as he took a step forward.

"No matter how you look at it I'm still a guy, huh?" Ranma laughed nervously.

"So despite that!" Ryoga braced himself but also remembered to control himself, knowing that if he continued to shout he might risk what precious time he had left with Ranma.

Pleasantly surprised Ranma knew that she had no reason to be worried, "Considerin' what you get out of it, is it really that bad...?" Ranma asked, placing both hands on her sides and swaying her hips to one side.

"No…" Ryoga answered, letting his temper cool over like a ball of magma in the sea.

Ranma closed her eyes and grinned coyly, 'Guess I oughta' be glad he ain't pointing any fingers at me being…' she thought with a faint tinting of pink to her cheeks.

A deep sigh escaped from Ryoga's nose, shutting his eyes, he knew that he still had a point to make, so he continued. "What I was trying to get at was…" Ryoga choked, making the gap between him and Ranma smaller.

"Hmm?"

"You're not the only one who's gone through some changes..." Ryoga clarified, letting go Ranma's hand to plop his strong hands on her seemingly delicate looking shoulders.

They looked to one another with tender smiles before Ranma took the slightest of steps, her slender fingers slithered atop Ryoga's musculature until reaching his collarbone, her cute digits curling inward to resemble the paws of an adorable cat.

"R–Ranma…?"

There it was again, that special smile Ranma would almost exclusively reserve for relentlessly teasing Ryoga. Her upper lip curled into a seductive feline's muzzle.

Dumbstruck, the lost boy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, 'I love it when Ranma's like this,' Ryoga thought briefly until Ranma's hand began to travel up Ryoga's neck and then finally the sides of his face.

"We're both guys, so I 'know' you're loving this..." Ranma said in a low, raspy tone.

Ryoga felt his animalistic nature try to control him via his lips, however, Ranma's hands kept him at him from reaching that content feeling. "Always such a damn tease..." Ryoga growled with his eyes closed.

"Don't act like you don't love it..." Ranma replied, chuckling a little before finally relaxing her grip, accepting Ryoga's kiss.

They passionately engaged in their heated lip locking, doing so as though it may be their last. The possibility of which may-

"Ranko! What's-" Nodoka stopped in mid-sentence.

"Ah!" Ranma and Ryoga screamed, jumping away from the other as they looked to Nodoka.

"Ranko...?"

(7,414)

What!? Nodoka knows Ranko is into Ryoga? o.O Oh my god... what's going to become of them? Where's Ukyo in this? Oh wait... she will be making a return. Possibly next chapter? If there's, the next chapter.

There's something about this story... it's mostly to thank the comic readers who've shown me that this series has the potential to be a comic. Maybe someday that comic can reach this book in this series of mine?

Whatever happens... I'm definitely happier with this than the last version. To those of you who are willing to try once more. I'm cool with that... I may even delete Nodoka's Daughter for this as it's replacement.

The name is odd... wasn't it Nodoka's Daughter? Yes. It was. The name change is intentional. What exactly it means? I'll let you guys figure out. X3

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