Just Friends?

AN: My first jaunt into pure Ranma (one of my top three favorite series)! The main pairing will be Ryoga and Ranma-chan (my all time favorite pairing). I will be taking the progression of thier relationship fairly slow. So do not expect anything major right away in the romance department.

Chapter 1: Repairing a Friendship

Ranma Saotome was deep in thought as he walked toward the park. Things were bad with Akane even before the failed wedding, but now they were much worse. He was pretty sure now that their relationship was beyond repair.

He had gotten to thinking, and realized that, for once, he needed to talk to someone. It had to be someone that really understood his life, so his friends at school were out. None of his fiances would work, because they would either try to use it to gain an advantage, or they would not listen in the first place. Nabiki wouls just use it to blackmail him, and there was no way in hell that he was going to actually talk to his parents.

Kasumi might help, but he did not want to burden the kind-hearted Tendo if he could avoid it. He would have spoken to Doctor Tofu, but no one had seen him for months... Much to Kasumi's disappointment.

There was one person, though. Ranma was not sure if they could be considered friends, but he thought that with a little work on his part, he could change them from just rivals, to friends as well. Convincing Ryoga to stop attacking him on sight, was definately going to be painful, though.

He was so deep in thought, that he did not notice when he was splashed with water by the Ladle Lady. Ranma had gotten so used to her curse that she hardly noticed when she changed anymore.

When she got to the park, she saw a familiar tent, and released a pent up breath that she had not realized she had been holding. She had been worried that she would get there only to find Ryoga gone again. Though, to be perfectly fair, he had been getting better about staying in Nerima, even if he did still get lost within the ward.

She approached the tent, before stopping roughly ten feet away from it. "Yo, Ryoga!" She called out. "Are ya in there?"

Ranma heard movement inside the tent. Ryoga stepped out and glared at the redhead.

"Ranma." Ryoga growled. "It's not enough that you make my life worse every time I run into you, but now actually come looking for me?" The lost boy moved into an agressive stance, his deceptively heavy umbrella in one hand.

Ranma winced. When she had thought about it, she had realized that most of Ryoga's problems (except for getting lost all the time) really were her fault, even if indirectly.

"Ryoga, listen," the redhead said hesitantly. Ryoga noticed the tone of voice, and raised an eyebrow. What could make Ranma Saotome of all people sound hesitant?

She took a deep breath breath, swallowed, and then did something that made Ryoga's jaw drop. Ranma bowed to him and declared, "I'm sorry!"

Ryoga just stood there, completely shocked. Ranma never apologized. Ever. All that he was able to say was, "Wh-what?

She stood straight, and said solemnly, "I thought 'bout what you always said, and realized you were right. 'Cept for your gettin' lost all the time, pretty much everythin' bad that happened to you was because of me. I realized that you were the closest thing I had to a best friend, and I wanna make it up to you, no matter what it takes."

Ryoga stared at her, trying to figure out whether or not this was just another one of Ranma's tricks.

"What's going on?" Ryoga said with a glare. "The Ranma I know would never just apologise for no reason."

Ranma glared back. "Listen, Pig-Brea-" She stopped herself and thought, Man, I hate sayin' sorry. "This is hard for me ta say, but I feel I gotta. If there is anythin' I can do to make it up to ya, just let me know."

Ryoga stood for a moment, thinking. This could still be one of Ranma's tricks, but even if it was a trick, he could still get something out of it. And if Ranma WAS being honest, then he had to admit - even if ONLY to himself - that Ranma was the closest thing he had to a friend.

After all, plenty of opportunities to kill Ranma had come up over the last year or so, but he had never taken any of them. Despite what he said, he did not really want to kill the aquatransexual. What he really wanted, was to prove that he, Ryoga Hibiki, was a better martial artist than Ranma Saotome.

And that is when it hit him.

"Have a match with me."

"What?" Ranma said in confusion. Don't we already fight almost every day?

"I don't mean a fight." Said the Lost Boy. "I mean a straight up martial arts match. No special moves, no ki attacks, just martial arts.

Ranma's confused expression melted away, inly to be replaced by a feral grin. "You're on!" The redhead declared. "Come on. If we're just doin' martial arts moves we should be able ta use the Tendo's dojo."

As they left the park, Ryoga immediately started walking in the wrong direction. Not wanting to wait five days for their match, Ranma grabbed his hand, and started to lead him to the dojo.

As they were walking down the road, (it would have been hard to roof hop without losing him,) Ryoga idly noticed how small and soft her hand was when compared to his own.

AN: And there you are! I have a few ideas for this, so the second chapter should come out fairly quick (for me).

Some of you may be worried about Ryoga forgiving Ranma to easily. He has NOT forgiven Ranma yet. Ryoga is just giving him a chance, for reasons stated in the chapter.

I also have a poll on my profile regarding next chapter, so please vote!

As always, Please check out the story ideas I have posted on my profile. I would especially like to see someone pick up "Tyrant of Peace" (Naruto), "Warlock Fox" (Naruto/Looking For Group), and "Past Lives Revived" (Naruto/Ranma 1/2).

All flames will be used to light Happo Fire Bombs, which will then be thrown at the flamers.