Bruises

Ryouga Yagami

Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

"I lost to Ranma again", Ryoga sighed as he looked at his bruises. There was one on his arm that was hurting like hell, but he just stayed there, under a tree on a field, remembering the fight. Ranma won, that was sure, but what hurt more wasn't his defeat. It was what happened after.

"Ranma, are you all right?"

This was Akane. She was worried with Ranma. She had eyes only to Ranma.

Akane had no eyes to Ryoga.

Ryouga was depressed again. His will was to explode everything around, but this would not help in any. He looked at the branches of the tree and lost himself in them. His mind was like a hurricane, showing bad memories. He felt a pain on his face and put a hand on his cheek. He looked at his hand again and saw the blood. Ryoga sighed and tried to stand up, but he didn't have any strength left to do it.

He looked at his backpack and thought that was time to treat his wounds. 'At this moment, Ranma is at the dojo, people around him, asking if he is all right. Kasumi is treating his wounds and Akane is near, worried if he is ok. Probably Shampoo or Ukyo, or better, both are there, saying that he was great and all', Ryouga sighed, "Life sucks"

"Good ol'Ryouga", someone said.

"Hi, Mousse", Ryouga said without looking at the hidden weapons master, "Came here to make fun of me?"

"Far from that", Mousse said and sat on the other side of the tree Ryouga was bandaging himself.

Silence.

"Shampoo is at the dojo and you are trying to forget her for sometime", Ryouga concluded.

"Yeah, it's that", Mousse watched some birds, "I was there until sometime ago, but got tired of, 'Ranma are you all right?', 'Ranma, you are great' and so on"

"I think I know how you feel", Ryoga said.

Mousse looked at the sky, like he was waiting for an answer that would never be given. "I really hate this"

Silence.

"Humpf", Mousse stood up, "Why, going so soon?", Ryoga asked.

"I have to go back", he walked away.

"Mousse", Ryoga said and when he heard no steps, he finished, "Thanks"

"You are welcome, Ryoga", and walked away again.

Ryouga stayed there a long time. He was tired and needed some rest before going to some unknown place. He was always going to some unknown place. He had a destiny, almost every time it was the Tendo Dojo, but couldn't reach it before being lost for days, weeks or even months. He let out a heavy sigh.

Suddenly Ryoga felt eyes on him. He closed his and said seriously, "Who is there?", as he had no answer he decided to be more aggressive, "I can be injured, but I still can fight", he said and made some effort to stand up.

"Stay where you are", the feminine voice said.

Ryouga realized it was night, 'Did I stay here so much time?', then he thought about the voice, 'I've already heard it before', "C'mon, get out of there, or I'll hunt you". Some noise could be heard, someone walking on the grass.

"Hi, Ryoga", Ukyo said holding something on her hands.

"Ukyo?", he looked around, "The Dojo must be somewhere around here. Are you going to help Ranma, right?", Ryoga asked. He thought that maybe she could give him a message, that next time he was going to kill him.

Ukyo looked away, "No, we are far from there. And I'm not going there"

Ryoga looked at her, surprised, "You are not?", then he looked closer and saw that she was holding some bandages.

"No, I... came here to... maybe help you..."

'What, she came here to help me?', Ryoga thought and felt something warm on his body, 'What is going on?'

"So?"

Ryoga blinked, "So what?"

"Can I... help you?", she asked. Ryoga could not believe in this. He didn't know why, but Ukyo was nervous. He never saw her this way, even around Ranma. 'She is always very secure of herself, what is wrong with her?', then, he noticed that his delay in answering her was just letting things worse.

"Uh... sure, there are some bruises that I didn't take care", he said. Ukyo's face showed some relief and as she walked to him, Ryoga felt a strange feeling inside him again.

Ukyo kneeled beside him and Ryoga let her take care of his bruises. They were in complete silence. Ukyo very concentrated in what she was doing and Ryoga just watching her. He thought that she was pretty when she decided to wear something more feminine. He blushed a little and then controlled himself. Still, this was not the most important thing he was thinking, 'What is she doing here?'

"Ukyo"

"What?", she said not taking her eyes of her work.

"Thanks. I don't know why you are here, but thanks", he said simply.

"That's nothing, sugar", Ukyo gave him a smile that made him blush again. It was a simple smile of someone enjoying the moment with another person. This only made Ryoga think more about her.

When Ukyo finished to bandage the places Ryoga didn't, she kept her position, kneeled beside him looking at her hands on her lap. Ryoga could feel his heart beating faster, his eyes more opened, his senses more accurated. He never felt like that before. They were in silence, but it was like words would just spoil something. Ryoga looked at her and she lifted her head. Their eyes met.

"I think it's getting late", Ryoga said, never taking his eyes off her.

"Yeah, it's", she said, but didn't move. Then Ryoga tried to stand up. Ukyo helped him and even if Ryoga didn't say anything, she could tell that he was thanking her for helping. They walked.

"I... was worried about you", she said after a short period of silence.

Ryoga looked at the ground, "Why?"

"Because... after what happened... I went to the Dojo to see Ranma", the name Ranma made Ryoga react a little, "But... he was... saying that he was the best and I... I was getting tired... So, I... looked for you", she paused, "That's it"

"I see", Ryoga said, "Well, for the first time, Ranma being a jerk helped me in a way"

Ukyo blinked, "What do you mean?"

"If he was not talking about how good and fantastic he was, maybe you would not be here to help me", Ryoga said and Ukyo blushed.

"I... don't know what to say..."

Then they went back to silence and felt a little more relaxed. "Where are we going?", Ryoga asked.

"To the best restaurant in town, where more?"

Ryoga smiled entering in her game, "I heard they serve a great okonomiyaki there"

"Just great?", Ukyo smiled.

"Well, these are the rumors. At least I'm sure the chef is very pretty", and, as he finished to say it, he blushed hard, "Er... I..."

"Thanks, sugar. Just because of that you will have a special", she smiled. Ryoga blushed deeper trying to mutter a 'thanks' and Ukyo giggled. And they continued to walk.