Ranma's Lingering Affection

Chapter 2: The Beginning

A/N: One big thing I left out from the first chapter, and something I feel ashamed of is that there was one person who not only helped me come up with the title for this story but a lot of the plot as well. So, I deeply analogize to my friend Fuyukazehime, who was the one that did everything I stated above and more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ in any way shape or form and I am not trying to use this to make any money. Ranma ½ is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and not by me.


Herb was sitting down leaning against a tree while her two retainers where off gathering supplies for their trip. She was overlooking the lands of the area that they were soon to be traveling over, with her robe wrapped around her as she thought about the Kettle and how close she was to retrieving the lost artifact. She had traveled all across China for months searching for leads only to find out that the kettles true location was here in Japan. She got brought out of her musing as she looked up and saw Mint and Lime running up to her.

Mint yelled, "You won't believe it, Herb!" which was followed by Lime yelling, "We bought milk and bread from a woman! It was exciting!" as they both approached their Prince.

Herb shook her head and took one of the cartons of milk Lime was carrying; Ignoring their stupidity she began to gulp down the liquid to parch her thirst. Herb being born from the lineage of Dragons had some of the sharpest hearing and sense of smell out of all of the Musk warriors. And, she couldn't help but shoot one eye over as she was drinking her milk to look at Mint and Lime when they started conversing with one another.

She perked her ears up and listened as she heard Mint say, "Maybe, we shouldn't have said that, Lime. You know with Herb being a woman and all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean" Lime responded, "I was surprised when I saw Herb's body too. That was the first time I ever saw it and I never realized Herb was a girl."

Herb saw Mint nod his head as he said, "It was very surprising to me too; Herb was so beautiful, but what were those things on her chest, Lime?"

"Umm… that was," Herb Heard Lime whisper before she saw him start rubbing his chin in thought and said, "I think it could be a 'breast,' like in the rumors we've heard about back home."

Herb saw Mint's eyes widen and she rolled her eyes when he said, "Really? I thought it was a 'father?'" This just confirmed her accusations that the people born from the descendants of Wolfs were idiots.

Herb expected something like that from Mint, but was surprised when she heard Lime say, "Yeah, but a father on the chest would be pretty strange. Anyhow, I think those things are called breasts which sticks out of a woman's chest."

Herb's rage boiled over at having her body being talked about like that from her two retainers; She tried ignoring them, but she could only take so much. And, when she heard Mint say, "I think I like Herb's breasts, Lime," it was the last straw. She squeezed the milk carton in rage as the liquid sprayed out and grabbed Mint and Lime's attention.

Herb stood up and glared at the two of them as she marched over and yelled, "Why don't you two shut up!" right as she blasted them into the sky with a fierce Ki attack. 'None of this would have happened if it wasn't for that insolent child revealing my living shame… There was something about that one though… something I can't quite place… anyhow, it doesn't matter I won't forgive her. May she rot away the rest of her life as a woman,' Herb thought as she walked back over to the tree and sat back down; Waiting for her two retainers to recover so they could continue on their journey.


Ryoga was sitting in a bench seat with Ranma to his left as the train was whipping by trees, fields, and small towns. He heard the rumble of the tracks underneath him as he laid his hand of cards down with a grin on his face; Hoping, to finally beat Mousse this game. He scowled when Mousse revealed his hand to be a royal flush beating his pair of two. Ryoga leaned back hard in his chair and he was beyond irritated as he asked himself how Mousse had been able to beat him every single game. This was until he felt someone start to lean against him.

Ryoga looked to his side and blinked at the redhead who was using his shoulder as a pillow. He thought about shoving her off of him and waking her up, yet he couldn't do it once he saw her face; She looked so relaxed, so calm, and so peaceful that it felt wrong to wake anyone up while they were like that, even if she was his rival. He snapped his head up as he heard Mousse ask in confusion, "Are you going to get Saotome off of you, or not?"

Ryoga opened his mouth to say something just as an elderly couple came walking by. The elderly woman said to her husband, "Aww, don't they make a cute couple, dear?" Ryoga swallowed a lump in his chest wishing Saotome would get off of him as the elderly man nodded his head, "Yes, honey, they remind me of us back in the day," The man said as he pecked his wife on the forehead and they continued on their way back down the aisle.

Ryoga's face twisted in anger from being thought of as his rival's boyfriend and hearing Mousse snickering in the seat across from him did not make him feel any better. "Would you shut up, duck-boy!" Ryoga yelled at Mousse.

Mousse smiled and waved his hands defensively in front of himself, "Hey, don't get mad at me," Mousse said through chuckles, "Why don't you get mad at Saotome, he's the one using you as a pillow?"

Ryoga brow furrowed and he turned his attention away from Mousse as he began to try and pry Ranma off of him. Only to have her snake her arms around his and latch on even tighter. "Arg! Get off of me, Saotome!" Ryoga yelled as he was shaking his arm trying to throw off the redhead who wouldn't let go of him.

Ryoga tried everything he could think of to get her off of him for several minutes; He tried punching her only to have her dodge it in her sleep. He tried yelling in her ear only to have her shush him and say "Five more minutes, Pop's." He even tried running some of their food under her nose hoping to use her stomach to wake her up only to have it completely ignored.

Ryoga sat in his chair in defeat with Mousse laughing at him, "It's not funny! I can't get him off of me!" Ryoga yelled at Mousse. He sat there for a few minutes trying to think of new ways to get Ranma off of him just as the overhead speakers on the train blared open and he felt the redhead begin to stir.

Ranma was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she heard the intercom system start to say that they were about to stop at their get off point. She blinked her eyes open a few times from the blinding light on the train before noticing Ryoga glaring at her, 'He's already mad at me… what the hell did I do now… Oh, god, I hope I didn't talk in my sleep!' She thought before she heard Ryoga say in a panted breath, "Oh, now you wake up."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, "Wh-What is it?"

Ryoga huffed as he stood up and grabbed his bag, "Nothing, let's get going," He said not wanting to let her know what she just did. He waited for Mousse to take the lead and Ranma quickly grabbed her bag running to catch up with the two of them as she thought, 'Well, hopefully, it wasn't that… they would probably be asking me a lot of questions if they would have heard… that... whatever, he's always angry about something, it's probably nothing,'


The sky was pitch black and the stars were shining overhead as Ranma and company exited the train station. Ranma and Ryoga were following Mousse who was in charge of holding on to the more precious items such as all of their yen and the map he was holding out in front of himself.

Ranma saw Mousse put a deck of playing cards up his sleeve and rolled her eyes as she said, "You two didn't play cards the whole time I was sleeping, did you?" Ranma said as she was following Mousse down a windy dirt road; Shivering slightly from the cold winter breeze that was blowing by them.

She crossed her arms and started rubbing them up and down as she heard Ryoga say, "You were playing to Saotome, I don't want to hear it."

Ranma rolled her eyes as she said, "Yeah, until I noticed four-eyes over here," she pointed at Mousse, "was hiding cards up his sleeve,"

"What!?" Ryoga yelled at Ranma, "He was cheating the whole time!" Ryoga narrows his eyes at Mousse before turning and glaring back at Ranma, "Why the hell didn't you say something!?"

Upon seeing Ryoga's brow start twitching as he clenched his fists in rage and frustration, Ranma began to feel horrible for not telling him. She hung her head in shame as she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would make you so angry," then raised her head up and looked at him with her wide blue eyes that were filled with guilt, "c-can you forgive me?"

Ryoga's anger deflated once he looked into her puppy dog eyes; He didn't see an ounce of acting or faking in them. But, he could never tell when Ranma was messing with him in girl-form, so he snorted as he said, "Whatever Saotome, your acting isn't going to work on me this time. But, it was just a card game, don't worry about it,"

'Acting? What is he talking about… I meant what I said…Oh, no…' She was instantly glad it was dark out as she realized what she did and blushed profusely, 'dammit, I did it again… why can't I just act normal around him… Well, at least he thought I was just messing with him…' She thought as she used Ryoga's inability to read her to her advantage, "Well, at least you're finally starting to catch on," she said with a huff as she shoved her hands in her pockets.

Ranma then spotted a campsite up ahead and it was almost perfect with it being right beside a tiny stream as well as being on the edge of a small forest; They could catch fish for their meals and get firewood from the nearby foliage. "Hey, that spot ain't so bad for setting up camp." She said as she pointed towards it, "What do you guy's think?" she asked as she looked over at the two of them. Ryoga and Mousse both nodded their heads as they followed the redhead over to the clearing.

Mousse started following Ranma's lead and leaned over to Ryoga and whispered, "Have you noticed Saotome acting funny lately?"

Ryoga shook his head as he whispered back, "Nah, Saotome is always acting strange. This is nothing compared to what I'm used to," he said as he recalled all the times Ranma had pretended to be his sister, or his fiancée, or his girlfriend just to trick him. So, he figured that even though Ranma was acting funny it was at least more normal than what he was used to.

Mousse blinked at Ryoga before he whispered back, "But, he apologized and he looked like he meant it… Saotome never apologizes…"

"Nah, I mean it's a little different, but Saotome was just messing with me like he always does," Ryoga waved him off as he whispered back to Mousse.

Mousse was about to whisper something back when he heard Ranma ask, "What are you two talking about?" as she slung her pack off her back and plopped it on the ground.

"Nothing," Ryoga responded as he walked over and took off his pack; Ranma and Mousse both stared at his pack in wonder as they felt the ground shake beneath their feet.

Ranma shook her head as she said, "Whatever," she turned her attention back to her pack and rummaged through it before pulling out an oversized red hoodie fit for her male-form. She quickly pulled it over her head as she said, "Finally, I was freezing," she turned and started walking off towards the woods as she yelled out, "I'm gonna go get some firewood. You two can set up camp or whatever."

With that Ryoga started going through his pack before pulling out his tent and started setting it up. While Mousse watched Ranma leave for a moment, wondering if Ryoga was right or not before telling himself that it was probably nothing. He then followed Ryoga's lead as he took off his pack and began to set up his tent.

Ranma was walking through the small forest picking up little sticks and twigs as she was adding them to the bundle in her hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would make you so angry. Can you forgive me," She grumbled to herself, 'Where the hell did that come from… I need to control myself or he's going to think I actually like him or something,' She thought as she mentally slapped herself.

Ranma shook her head as she picked up a few more sticks and added them to her bundle; Noticing that she couldn't carry anymore she started to make her way back, but stopped about halfway as she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. So, she paced around the woods for a minute or two before telling herself that Ryoga and Mousse didn't seem to even notice her acting weird, so what did it matter.

Ranma sighed as she stepped back into the campsite and noticed that Mousse and Ryoga were both done setting up their tents. Ryoga's being big enough for maybe four people, while Mousse would probably barely fit in his. She walked over and tossed the wood in the center of the campsite before walking over to her pack, "I got the wood, can you start the fire while I set up my tent?" She asked Ryoga as she walked by him.

"I guess," Ryoga replied as he pulled out some flint from his pack and got to work on the fire. He got the wood stacked neatly and just got the fire going before he heard Ranma yell, "Where the hell is it!?"

Ryoga snapped his head back and saw all of Ranma's belongings thrown out of her bag, "Where is what?" what did you forget?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma turned around and smacked her forehead, "I forgot my damn tent that's what! Ugh, and it's freezing out here too," She said before removing her hand from her face and looking towards Ryoga's tent; That could easily sleep more than just the lost-boy himself. Then looked towards Mousse's tent that would barely fit himself let alone another person. She grumbled something under her breath as she turned towards Ryoga and really didn't want to ask him this, "C-could I bunk with you, Ryoga?"

Ryoga narrowed his eyes at her as he stated bluntly, "No way, you shouldn't have forgotten it."

"B-But, it's not my fault. If it wasn't for Soun spouting that nonsense, I wouldn't have forgotten it," She pleaded.

She saw Ryoga cross his arms as he stated, "No way, it's not going to happen, Saotome."

She pouted as she almost started begging, "But, I'm gonna freeze out here. C'mon Ryoga, be a pal and let me bunk with you."

Ryoga sighed and uncrossed his arms. He knew with winter being here Ranma would probably get sick and that would only complicate things on this trip. The only reason he offered to help in the first place was to redeem himself so he said, "Fine, but you're going to stay on your side and don't come over to mine."

Ranma could feel the heat rising in her cheeks when Ryoga said that as her mind thought about sleeping next to Ryoga in his sleeping bag. But, she shook her head and collected herself as she said, "Whatever, like I would even want to come over to your side," she then grabbed her pack and walked over to his tent. She walked inside and pulled out her sleeping bag; Making sure to keep it a good distance away from Ryoga's.

Ranma walked back over to her pack and pulled out some ramen cups, a couple bottles of water, and some chopsticks before she exited the tent and sat down next to Ryoga by the fire, "Thanks, for letting me use your tent, Ryoga… I can't believe I forgot the damn thing," She said as she pulled the lids off the cups and poured some water in each of them.

She laid the cups close to the fire in order to heat them up, as she heard Ryoga huff before he said, "Don't think it means anything. I mean, what would Akane think of me if I let you get sick or freeze to death while we were gone?"

'Why the hell does he have to bring up, Akane!' she thought as she whipped her head back and glared at him before relaxing, 'What the hell… what am I getting jealous for? It's not like I care who he likes,' She snorted and turned looked away from him as she said, "Who cares what the stupid Tomboy thinks anyways… I know I don't."

Ranma then felt a sharp pain to the top of her head and turned and looked at Ryoga with narrowed eyes, "Owe, what did you do that for?" She asked him as she rubbed the sore spot.

Ryoga crossed his arms as he said, "For making fun of Akane, and be lucky that's all I did."

Ranma was about to lunge at Ryoga but stopped when she heard Mousse call out, "Could you two, wait and fight each other in the morning." She stopped with her fist drew back and her eyes went wide as she heard Mousse continue, "And, I think the ramen is done, Saotome." Mousse then thought, 'I guess Ranma is acting normal…'

Ranma quickly darted over and used the sleeve of her oversized hoodie to grab the steaming cups away from the fire with one slightly burnt on the side. She handed Mousse one cup along with a pair of chopsticks, and then smiled as she handed Ryoga the slightly burnt one with his chopsticks.

Ryoga grumbled as he asked, "Why the hell do I get the burnt one!?"

"I dunno," Ranma said as she broke apart some chopsticks and began to slurp up some noodles, "Maybe it's cause you hit me. Besides it's only burnt on the outside, don't be such a baby."

Ryoga grumbled as he broke apart his chopsticks, 'At least, I didn't have to cook it I guess…' he thought as he began to slurp up his noodles. After they were all done eating they decide to turn in for the night and get up early in the morning so they could keep their lead on Herb and maybe get to the kettle before she did.

The night was late and Ranma was all bundled up in her sleeping bag inside of Ryoga's tent; She could hear the fire crackling, the crickets chirping, and a few owls hooting as she was lying there staring at the top of the tent. She turned over and stared at Ryoga's back for a moment before asking him, "Hey Ryoga, are you asleep yet?"

She heard him sigh deeply before he said in an irritated tone of voice, "Yes, I'm still awake. What do you want, Saotome?"

Ranma rolled her eyes at him always being so defensive, "I was just gonna say thanks for letting me sleep in here again, and why do you always gotta act like that? I mean, you're my friend and we've known each other since junior high, so why can't you use my real name, huh?"

"It just comes natural," Ryoga said, "besides your annoying and we're not friends, so there's no point in me saying your first name, Saotome."

Ryoga's words hurt as she took what Ryoga said just a few hours ago to heart, when he called her his dearest friend in front of Akane. And, hearing him say this now was like someone had just used a knife to stab her in the back. She yelled, "You're such a jerk!" before she rolled over and faced away from him and said, "I can't believe I thought of you as my best friend."

Ranma laid there and was beyond angry, 'Why… Why does he always have to be like that towards me? And, he's the one always calling me a jerk… argh… this is just great… now I'm going to be dreaming about him too…' Ranma sighed in frustration as she closed her eyes and forced herself to go to sleep; Knowing full well what was going to go through her brain while she was unconscious and she was not looking forward to it.

Ryoga was lying there in his sleeping bag and couldn't go to sleep, 'dammit, why do I feel like such an asshole,' He thought before he rolled over and stared at Ranma's back, 'I was just saying what I always say… I didn't know Saotome would take it so hard… I guess it wouldn't hurt to try and be a little nicer to him…' He nodded his head and closed his eyes making a silent promise to try and be a little nicer to his rival while he was on this trip. It helped him feel better about himself and he fell asleep not too long after.


It was early morning and Ranma was sitting out in front of Ryoga tent stirring miso soup for his darling Ryoga. He was so happy and excited to cook Ryoga breakfast that when he heard the tent flaps began to open and saw Ryoga start to come out he couldn't help but exclaim, "Good morning, dear! I made miso soup for you; It'll be done in a minute!"

Ranma turned away from Ryoga and began to taste his soup before continuing on, "I was waiting for you to wake up. Now, I washed all of your clothes that I could find, but if you have any more, just give them to me and I'll get right on it."

Ranma turned his head back when he heard Ryoga ask him in a low growl, "Ranma… what the hell are you planning?"

Ranma smiled and shook his head as he said, "Planning? No, I'm not planning anything. I just wanted to see you smile, that's all."

Ranma leaned back with wide eyes as Ryoga screamed in his face, "How the hell am I supposed to smile when a guy is taking care of me?!"

Ranma felt so stupid for not considering that, "I didn't even think about that, sorry." He said in a saddened tone of voice as he rubbed the back of his neck. He then noticed a bucket of water not to far away and walked over and proceeded to poured it over his head changing himself. Ranma sat down and smiled at Ryoga with her hands in her lap as she said, "Is this better, dear?" as she batted her eyelashes.

She saw Ryoga look at her with his mouth agape, shoulders drooped, and his arms slack as he said in a monotone voice, "No, 'dear,' it's not better." Right before she saw his eyes go wide and he darted back into his tent.

Ranma tilted her head to the side and blinked at where Ryoga used to be before she walked over and opened the flaps of his tent. When she entered she saw Ryoga hunched over looking at a piece of paper in his hands. "Hi," she said before she felt him turn around and quickly grab her wrist.

"Get over here 'dear'," he said as he slammed her on the ground of his tent.

"What are you doing, dear?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Just hold still for a minute, will you?" She heard him say and a blush spread across her face when he yanked her shirt open and looked at her chest as he yelled, "AHA, the mark! It's here and it's a carp! Oh, boy…"

Ranma heard a female voice say something outside of the tent but all of her focus was on what Ryoga was doing to her. She turned her head to the side with a full-blown blush spread across her face as she said, "Goodness dear, I didn't know we were this far in our relationship yet!"

Then the tent flaps opened and Ranma heard Akane say, "Oh, my…" as if in shock before continuing on, "W-What are you two doing?" As Ranma got caught with Ryoga on top of her with his hands holding her shirt open.


Ranma awoke with a start and sat up in her sleeping back panting for air. She looked around for a moment and sighed with relief when she noticed Ryoga wasn't in the tent anymore and promptly laid her head back down in order to calm her nerves. She tried to forget about another one of those stupid dreams as she told herself over and over again that they meant nothing, and that she needed to focus on changing back to a man; Not whatever was going on in her stupid head at night.

A few minutes later, after she collected herself, she sniffed the air and her stomach growled as she smelled something cooking on the fire outside. She rose and climbed out of the flaps of the tent only to stare with wide eyes when she saw Ryoga holding some fish over a fire. She wondered how he didn't get lost on his way back to the campsite before she saw a rope tied around one of the nearby trees.

"Oh, you're awake," Ranma heard Ryoga ask her and it brought her attention back to him, "I figured since you made supper last night I would make breakfast. It isn't much but at least it's freshly caught."

Ranma walked over and sat on a nearby log close to the fire and looked at Ryoga with curious eyes. She crossed her arms and looked away from him; Completely ignoring anything he said. She was still angry about what he said last night and on top of that, she was forced to dream about him yet again. This was until she felt a stick poke her and looked down to see Ryoga handing her a stick with three fish on it.

"Here," Ryoga said and continued with a little distaste leaking into his voice, "Look, I didn't mean what I said last night, I guess you're the closest thing I have to a friend, Sao… Ranma."

Ranma blinked at him and her heart melted when he said that as she thought, 'Aww, he said I was his friend and he said my name… Arg, no! I can't let that get to me.' Even though she didn't want to show any emotion from what he said she couldn't help but smile as she said, "T-Thanks, Ryoga," then took the fish he offered her, and couldn't keep the grin off her face while she was enjoying the meal he cooked.

They both ate in silence for a few minutes until Mousse came stumbling out of his tent making Ranma freeze at the sight of him; She couldn't help but feel like she was enjoying this time alone with Ryoga a little too much, and with Mousse coming into the picture she was afraid he would notice.

She relaxed when he sat down across from her and she saw that he wasn't wearing his glasses as he started to rub the sleep from his eyes. She saw him sniff the air before saying, "Is that fish?" He was then tossed a stick with several fish on it from Ryoga and Mousse promptly ate every bit of it.

After they ate breakfast, the three of them packed up camp and continued on their journey. With Ranma knowing they had at about a two-week lead on Herb just by taking the train, and she hoped that they would be able to keep it. This would allow her to get changed back then fight Herb in her true form at her full strength.

Ranma was pulled out of her musings about Herb when she heard Mousse say, "Hey, we are going to pass through a town in a few days that has a natural hot spring bathhouse. Maybe, we can relax there a bit before taking back off again?"

"That's a great idea," Ranma said nodding her head, "a hot spring would be nice right about now, with how cold it is."

Ranma quickly looked over at Ryoga when he said, "Aren't you forgetting something Ranma, you can't change back right now,"

"So…" she said then trailed off and a blush spread across her face, "Oh… right," she then looked down at her feet, and thought about that for a few moments. But, she really wanted to take a dip in a hot spring, so she said with a little uneasiness seeping into her voice, "Well, I just won't look and it's not like I can change back anyway, so no one will even know,"

'That's not the point. You're still a guy, Ranma, we'll know…' Ryoga thought but didn't say anything as he had just made up with her and didn't want to make Ranma mad at him again; He simply rolled his eyes and readjusted his pack as he continued following Mousse.


A couple weeks journey behind them was Herb and her two retainers; Lime who was carrying all of the supplies and Mint who was carrying the lighter and more valuable items such as the ladle that was strapped to his waist.

Mint and Lime both came to a halt when Herb stopped in front of them and raised her nose in the air. Just as a train came rolling by some nearby train tracks.

"What is it, Herb?" Lime asked with a hint of curiosity and fear in his voice.

'That train that just passed by… it had the scent of…' Herbs eyes went wide and a scowl spread across her face, 'I will not let that rude-one get to the Kaisuifuu before me!' She thought before she yelled, "Mint, Lime, we need to move faster! It seems we have competition for the Kaisuifuu!"

"Who would that be?" Herb heard Mint ask but ignored his stupid question as she started to pick up speed and ran forwards.

Mint easily picked up the pace and was on Herb's heels in a second and Lime caught up a few minutes later. The three of them in hot pursuit and catching up to Ranma and company faster than expected, 'The rude-one she smells a little different now… it couldn't be… Well, doesn't matter anyhow, if she thinks those two companions she brought with her will help, she is sadly mistaken. And, I will not let her beat me to the Kaisuifuu!' Herb thought as she was almost flying across plains and valleys with her retainers right behind her.


A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying this little story so far and I hope it can continue to hold your attention. The feedback from everyone was great on the first chapter and I hope everyone enjoyed this one just as much too. I love hearing from everyone so I look forward to reading the reviews from this chapter!