Warning: Sex is implied in this chapter, but the description barely touches second base to keep things T.
Constructive criticism is welcomed, learning from my mistakes is how I'll grow :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of the characters within.
Magic and Mushrooms ch2
In the days that followed the two made their way steadily upward. The slope grew more and more steep each day and the undergrowth more dense. By night Ryoga trained Ranma to use the Iron Cloth technique. She had learned to use her belt as a blade rapidly, but using cloth as a projectile was proving far more difficult to master. She kept losing control of the chi once the cloth left her hand.
"Dammit!" She cried after another failed attempt.
"You have to visualize the chi. Imagine it's still connected to you by an invisible tether. Don't try to control it yet, just maintain it." He advised.
"Right." She nodded and tried again. The bandana fell limply to the ground. "Arg!" She threw another dozen, but the result was the same.
Ryoga gathered them up and brought them back to her. "I have an idea. You are pretty good at sensing other people's chi, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, put your hand on my wrist." She made a face at him that suggested she'd rather eat mud (as if she hadn't hung off his arm on numerous occasions).
"You want to learn or not? I'm just trying to help here." With a sigh she gripped his wrist.
Ryoga filled the cloth he was holding with chi. "Can you feel that?"
Ranma could easily sense it, with her hand on his wrist it was almost as if it were her own chi. "I can."
"Good, I'm going to throw it now. Don't let go." He pulled his arm back, then forward and released.
Ranma could see now what he meant by a tether. It was like a fine thread of chi was connecting the cloth to his body. She was confident she could do it now. "Thanks Ryoga."
It only took a few more attempts for her to figure it out. "Yes!" She cried as she did a victory dance.
Ryoga laughed at the spectacle she was making of herself. "Hehe, you didn't even learn the coolest part yet."
"What is that?" She asked.
"Directional control. I'm just learning it myself really. If we worked together though..." The whole point of this trip was teamwork after all.
Ranma recalled how he'd knocked the takoyaki out of her hand previously. He'd made the bandana reverse course like a boomerang. She did a little fist pump in excitement. "Let's do this!"
The trail led them steadily away from the water that had been their main source of food. They were able to catch some small game at first, but then the rain hit. They had been stuck in their tent for several days now because it was pouring so hard that every drop splashed back up. Ryoga couldn't stay human outside for more than a few minutes. He'd used up all the hot water he'd had in his thermos, and now they couldn't even start a fire to boil more.
The real problem though was that they were getting extremely hungry.
"You're crazy! You'll never find anything in this weather." He told her.
"I've gotta try or we're gonna starve." She insisted while grabbing his umbrella and exitting the tent. There was no way she was going to eat the emergency rations unless she was on her death bed.
Ranma wandered through the woods for what seemed like hours. She was cold, she was wet, the ground was slick with mud and there were no animals out and about. She was about to give up when she noticed the mushrooms growing at the base of a big tree. Come to think of it, she had seen them growing all over the mountainside.
She pulled out the map, her father had circled different sections and assigned each one a number. They were in the area marked '2', she checked the legend. Genma had included information for identifying poisonous plants, there were two in this section. There were no poisonous mushrooms listed in the area though so she folded the front of her shirt to form a little pocket and loaded it with mushrooms. She even collected more on the walk back.
"Hey Ryoga, this was the best I could do in this weather." She said when she entered the tent.
He inspected them. They looked odd, a little too colorful. "You sure they aren't poisonous?"
"Yep, I checked with Pop's map."
"It's better than nothing I suppose." They divided up the mushrooms and started to eat. "Wow, these are really good." He was surprised, they were unlike any mushroom he'd ever tried before.
"Tell me about it!" She agreed as she stuffed her face.
Soon all the mushrooms were gone and the two sat back relaxed, their hunger sated.
A chill ran up Ranma's spine. Ooh, I'm freezing. It must be these wet clothes. She started to remove them.
Ryoga noticed Ranma moving around and realized she was getting undressed. A strange feeling washed over him, making him lightheaded. She has really nice tits He thought, followed by, What the heck am I thinking? Snap out of it, he's a he. He shook his head, but the lightheadedness didn't clear. He opened his mouth intending to tell her to put some clothes on, but what came out was, "It's such a shame you aren't a girl. You're beautiful." His face turned red immediately. What is wrong with me?
Ranma was shocked, he didn't really say that did he? I must be imagining things... when she looked at him she could see sincerity and confusion written all over his face. A strange feeling washed over her, making her lightheaded. She opened her mouth to tell him she was a guy, so too bad, but what came out was, "Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm a girl." What the heck? Why did I tell him that? She shook her head, but the lightheadedness didn't clear.
His heart rate accelerated at those words. "What do you mean? I know you Ranma, I know you're a guy." He wondered why would Ranma lie about something like that that to him, and why she wasn't putting any clothes on even though she was getting goose bumps. Not that I'm complaining... wait, what? Of course I'm complaining!
"Simple. When I'm a boy I'm a boy. When I'm a girl I'm a girl." Stop! Stop talking! She screamed internally. No! You've suppressed this too long, stop lying to yourself! "You must have noticed from your own curse that you inherit traits from your other form. Pops eats bamboo and likes it, he rolls around all the time with that tire of his like a circus animal, then there's how lazy he gets, well, more 'n usual." Ranma wanted to deny her own words, but they were true. "Ryoga, when I'm a girl, I'm attracted to boys. That's why I've always fought against the curse so hard. I've suppressed it and repressed it and denied it, but my curse doesn't just make me look like a girl, I am one." Ranma had never intended to reveal her deepest, most shameful secret to anyone, second most shameful... You wouldn't! She yelled to herself, I would! Her mind replied right back."I like you." She leaned forward and kissed him softly, it felt like heaven.
Despite the chill in the air he was starting to feel very hot. Ranma had just kissed him, her bare breasts had been pressed against his chest. He reached up to loosen his collar, suddenly a pair of small hands were helping him untie the laces holding his tunic closed. What is she doing? He thought, but could make no move to stop her. Because you don't want her to stop... Said the voice in his head. You thought she was beautiful ever since you learned about her curse. She trailed her fingers down his sides until she reached his belt, which she tugged off. Every time you fell for one of her disguises, or tricks, you dared to hope it was real, that your loneliness was at an end. He felt her reach under the bottom of his shirt and lift it upwards, he raised his arms to help her. You want her. Yes, I want her.
What am I doing? Ranma wondered as she ran her hands over his defined torso. What you really wanted to do all those times you teased him, you know his reactions give you a thrill her mind replied. He reached out then and ran his larger hands up her sides. He's responding, he didn't push you away. She smiled at him, he gave her an awkward grin in return. He's adorable when he smiles like that, don't you think? Some part of her mind asked. Yes, she replied. Then she kissed him again, passionately this time. You want him. Yes, I want him.
It was hours before they finally fell asleep, locked in each other's embrace.
Pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat
Great, it's raining again... was the first thought that ran through Ryoga's mind upon waking. His second thought was more of a realization as he became aware that he had his arms wrapped around the small, warm, -naked- body that was nestled up against him. Well, one hand was wrapped around her, the other was cupping her right breast. That thought caused his fingers to flinch, which the girl definitely seemed to notice. Ryoga opened his eyes to see just what he had done last night (or who, as the case may be). Oh no...
Pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat
Ugh, it's so cold when it rains... was the first thought that ran through Ranma's mind upon waking. Her second thought was more of a realization as she became aware of an extremely warm body behind her and snuggled closer to it for the heat. It began to occur to her that it felt an awful lot like a -naked- male body with his arms wrapped around her, one hand resting on her breast. The hand squeezed. Ranma's eyes flew open and she turned to see just what she had done last night (or who, as the case may be). Oh no...
Two screams of sheer horror rang out across the mountainside. Birds fled their nests despite the rain and animals dove for cover. Far away in the Tendo dojo, Akane awoke with a start. An ominous feeling settled over her. I do hope those two are all right...
Ranma jumped back across the tent and grabbed the first piece of clothing she saw and tugged it over her head. Memories from the previous night were filtering slowly into her mind. Her face paled, then it burned bright red. Oh. My. God. She scrambled from the tent and ran out into the rain. She wasn't sure where she was running or even how far she had gone, she just knew she had to get out of there.
There was a relatively dry spot under a particularly dense crop of trees, she collapsed to her knees under them. The entire evening was playing over and over in her head. The memories had a dream like quality but she knew they were real. I told him my secret. I slept with Ryoga. More than once. It was good... What the heck is wrong with me? Out of the corner of her eye she spotted mushrooms growing around the base of the nearby trees. The mushrooms...
Ranma relaxed a little bit, reassured that she hadn't gone completely insane. If the mushrooms were to blame she could bury the incident under a nice thick pile of denial. She wasn't prepared to cope with the knowledge that she had enjoyed the previous night's experience a lot. She was even less prepared to deal with the thoughts that had filled her mind at the time, that she had unresolved feelings for Ryoga. Nope, it was all the fault of those mushrooms. Denial was bliss.
Ryoga watched as Ranma fled the tent wearing nothing but his tunic. Memories from the previous night were filtering slowly into his mind. His face paled, then it burned bright red. Oh. My. God. He couldn't blame her for fleeing, if it hadn't been raining so hard he may have done the same. Still in a state of shock he reached for his pack and pulled out some new clothes. Once he was dressed he sat in the center of the tent staring blankly ahead.
Ranma told me that as a girl she likes guys, likes me... then she... she... Ryoga reached up and gripped his hair, he wanted to be angry at her, he really did. But I didn't stop her. I let it happen. More than once. It was good... since he couldn't find it in him to be angry, he defaulted to his other typical state, depression.
Akari, what have I done? He had never before thought that he was the type to be unfaithful. Was that really all it took? For one almost girl to strip in front of him, then he'd become some sort of sexual deviant? Imagining how she would feel if she found out was breaking his heart, but he also felt compelled to confess to her. Then she could punish him like he deserved.
And Akane, how will I ever look her in the eyes again? He'd spent two years infatuated with her but had finally accepted her engagement to Ranma, only to turn around and sleep with her fiancee. I've betrayed her when all she's ever shown to me was kindness. He slumped over with his head in his hands, heavy chi of depression flowing out of him freely.
When Ranma made it back to the tent she found it surrounded by an oppressive aura. Just walking through it made breathing difficult. Jeez, if he let this go he could take down the whole mountain... guess he's taking it pretty bad. She approached him cautiously once she entered the tent.
"Relax Ryoga, it's not your fault." She said as she sat next to him. "I think it was the mushrooms. It started right after we ate, and they did look a bit weird. I guess Pops and his map were wrong."
That got a response from him, but not the one she was hoping for. The depressive aura faded, his eye twitched, "So what you are saying," his battle aura flared, "is that this is your fault!" Now this was familiar territory, when something goes wrong, blame Ranma. It had worked for years, he had made Ranma out to be the source of all his life's misery. Hating Ranma would make dealing with this so much easier. He reared back to hit her.
Ranma closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. If she fought back they'd destroy the tent and then they'd be left in the rain and cold for weeks to come. When nothing happened she opened one eye to see his fist stopped just short of her face.
Ryoga couldn't hit her, seeing her with her eyes screwed shut brought to mind an image of her from the previous night. As much as he wanted to hate her blindly again, he couldn't do it, not after seeing another side of her. It made her too human. He lowered his fist.
"Look, it didn't count because the mushrooms made us do it. We were drugged, right?" She asked, adding more denial to the pile. "So let's pretend it didn't happen, ok?"
"Fine." He said in a flat voice. He wouldn't be able to forget though, of that he was sure. They sat in silence for a a while. He finally broke it to say, "You should put your own clothes on."
She looked down and finally noticed that she was in nothing but his tunic. "Oh! Sorry." She blushed then made an effort to change behind her sleeping bag. For the first time ever, Ranma was feeling the need for some feminine modesty.
It took two more days for the rain to let up. In that time they'd only eaten a handful of raw eggs. They refused to touch the mushrooms again. They didn't speak much and kept themselves busy practicing what chi control they could in the limited space of the tent.
"Finally!" Ranma exclaimed when she stepped out into the sun. She couldn't stand another minute in that tent with Ryoga's depressive chi. He was trying to keep it reigned in but some of it still escaped and made her feel suffocated. She hoped not being trapped in there would improve his mood.
Ryoga could barely believe that Ranma was standing there in the sun smiling like an idiot. He really is acting like it didn't happen. How can he not feel any guilt for what he's done to Akane?
"Stop being such a sourpuss back there. The sun is shining, we're gonna get some food today and we can finally do some real training." She scolded him without even turning around.
The clearing of the weather had brought all the animals out of hiding. Getting breakfast was quick work. Soon they were packed and moving on to the next camp site.
Ryoga was quiet and moody, Ranma was unusually talkative. She kept trying to rope him into random conversions to distract him from all the unnecessary thinking she was sure he was doing. She wasn't very successful.
Half way through the day they emerged from the dense forest and nearly walked right into a sheer rock face. Ranma tried to get him to discuss whether or not he had prior climbing experience. He ignored her and removed the climbing supplies from his pack.
After several hours spent climbing Ryoga found himself completely fed up with her babbling. "Would you just shut up?" He finally roared at her.
"Jeez, I was only trying to help." She snapped back.
"How is drivng me crazy with your annoying chatter supposed to help?" He yelled.
"Because I know you. You are thinking too much. You're making yourself more depressed with each passing minute and beating yourself up about it won't do either of us any good. I was just trying ta get you to think about something else for a while." She was getting mad now.
"Well stop." He said, then started climbing faster.
Ranma sighed and sped up to keep pace with him. Maybe I went too far. She decided to just try and act normal and hope he'd come around. Even if Ryoga didn't agree, she thought he was her best friend (Uuchan would have held this spot were it not for being one of her crazy fiancees and therefore always plotting against her) and she didn't want to lose that.
