Ranma jumped down to meet Herb and Shampoo, his eyebrow raised in curiousity. "So, what brings you two here?" he asked lightly.
"Ranma! Shampoo come visit. You gone so long. Shampoo missed you airen!" Shampoo jumped at Ranma, who lightly side stepped her, his head bowed not wanting to meet her eyes. He couldn't lead her on anymore.
"What about you Herb? I don't think I ever expected to see you again. I'm glad you're safe. Last time I saw you, you weren't in the best shape" He said, slightly smug.
"That's precisely why I'm here Ranma" Herb said, his fists shaking. This arrogant bastard standing infront of him! The nerve, talking to the last royal of the Musk Dynasty like that! "I'm here to repay you for what happened that night!" As he said that, he unleashed a blast of focused chi at Ranma. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left, just a small crater. Herb knew it couldn't be that easy, he looked around for his opponent, but couldn't find him. He didn't even sense him. Something was wrong. Suddenly he felt stabbing pains in his back, and as he turned, he got a kick to the face, courtesy of Ranma.
"I dunno what your problem is. I beat you in a fight, big deal. I coulda left you, you know?" Ranma said, nimbly avoiding another energy attack let off by an enraged Herb. "I mean, you wanted to fight me. You should have known that there was the possibility of losing, right?"
"I didn't want to fight you!" Herb yelled, as he threw another energy blast, this one more focused, and as Ranma dodged it, it followed him. "I wanted to kill you!"
Ranma rushed foward toward Herb, the energy following him. As Herb saw Ranma's tactic, he released the control of the energy, and it hit the ground harmlessly, leaving a deep hole the size of a quarter. "Why would you want to kill me? What did I ever do to you, except challenge you when you tried to hurt Akane?!"
Herb stared at Ranma. The bastard, he had the nerve to ask him a question like that. "Why would I want to kill you!? Simple! You're crude, arrogant, shameless, reckless, loud and without a doubt the most irritating person in this world. I can't stop thinking about how you act! My face heats with rage at just the mere thought of you!"
Ranma laughed as Herb attempted to land a punch on him. The angrier he got, the easier it was for him to read his opponents movements, so he decided to take his taunts in an unorthedox direction. "Wow, it sounds more like you're in love with me, than you hate me! Can't get your mind off me, your face heats when you think of me, and you describe my most loveable traits so easily! I mean, I know Ryoga is kinda into me, what with the koi rod and all..." Ranma's teasing was cut short by the need to dodge a volley of energy blasts, that blew a hole in the outer wall.
"You dare make such insane accusations against me!?" Herb looked at Ranma, who was grinning at him in that same infuriating way. What would it take to get that smirk off his face!? The familiar heat of rage came to his face again, he felt it rush.
Ranma laughed as he dodged more of Herb's attacks. "Why do you protest so fiercely? And why are you blushing if i'm wrong?" Ranma knew he was hitting a soft spot, and was pressing it for all he as worth.
Herb started for a moment. Blushing? Not a chance in the world. "I am not blushing. I'm, I'm just angry!" he renewed his attacks on Ranma, but he couldn't concentrate well enough to even get close at this point. Blushing, he would never blush at a comment like that!
"Oh, Really? We'll see!" Ranma sprinted for the koi pond, and jumped in, then immediately jumped out. His clothes, now her clothes were soaked to her body, but that same grin was on her face.
Herb looked at her for a few moments, his face heating even more. The red chinese silk shirt was soaked to Ranma's form, leaving no doubt that she was female now. After a moment, he realized, that she was even more developed than the last time he'd seen her. "You shameless bastard. Do you always fall back on your female body when you get into trouble!?" Herb demanded, his chest tightening in anger.
"In trouble? Last I checked Herb, you haven't even touched me." Ranma said, her hands on her hips, her smile never leaving her face. "If anything, this should be a handicap for me. I mean, you can't seem to beat me as a man, maybe you can handle little dainty me?"
Herb looked at the confidently smiling Ranma, her face framed by her damp hair, the way she held herself. She disgusted him so much, that he didn't even want to soil his hands by hitting her. "Hmph" he grunted. "I'll be back. You had better be ready to fight your hardest when I return." with that he turned around, and walked slowly away from Ranma, with a calm he didn't feel.
As Herb walked away, Ranma sighed. When would his life settle down. Maybe, the only way her life would settle down, is if she left it all behind. Her life had been so much calmer during her training trip. She felt two arms wrap around him, and she gave a start.
"Airen so strong!" she said happily. "Shampoo happy Airen is safe. Ranma take Shampoo to date?" she said, pressing her breasts against her back.
"No" Ranma said, without any uncertainty, or the regular embaressment that she was used to seeing whenever she used this tactic. Ranma thought carefully, then spoke very slowly in the words she'd practiced in her head over and over. "Shampoo, I don't love you, and I don't think I ever will."
Shampoo jumped away from Ranma, and looked at her as she turned around. Her heart was breaking. It had at first, been the law that had required he be her husband, but she had come to love Ranma for him/herself. "Why Airen!?" she demanded, tears in her eyes.
"Because. All of you, you treat me like some sort of toy, or prize. Tricking me, abusing me, toying with me. All for your own goals. I've never been treated like a person. Just a prized stud." Ranma said, her voice calm, but hurt clear in it. She shook her head and blinked a few times to clear it of the tears that threatened to come out.
"Airen..." Shampoo couldn't say anything. Herself and her great-grandmother had done all of those things. "Wo ai ne" she said softly, her tears flowing. She dropped to her knees, sobbing into her hands.
"I'm sorry Shampoo. If it helps, you can hate me again. You gave me both kisses, if i recall correctly." Ranma said, calmly, her back to her.
"No!" Shampoo screamed, running at him, grabbing him. "Shampoo love Airen! Love so much it hurt! It hurt so much! Ranma, Shampoo no can hate. Shampoo no want to hate." her grip tightened more and more with each word that she screamed. "Shampoo... Love Ranma..." she said, softer this time.
"I'm sorry Shampoo." Ranma said, slipping from her grasp, as she walked inside the house, leaving her there. Ranma watched from inside as she stood there for two minutes,and when she had collected herself, retrieved her bike. She got on, and started riding away, glancing back just one more time before she was out of sight.
"So, have fun with your little fiance?" Akane spat out at Ranma.
Ranma sighed. She knew she was there. She didn't hide her presence very well. "Fun, is not the word" she said tiredly.
"Then what is the word you'd use? She was clinging all over you!" Akane asked, her anger rising.
"The word I'd use... I don't know a word that bad. Now go away Akane. I really don't want to talk to anyone right now." Ranma said. Least of all you, she thought.
Akane looked at her. Ranma seemed so tired, so hurt at this point. But she was so mad. She didn't want to comfort her, because then everyone would see that she really did want to. To her, it always came back to the fact that Ranma had been chosen for her, and that she never got to choose herself. She loved him, but she always got so angry about it. She took one look into her sad blue eyes, and stepped back. Shaking her head, she walked up to her room.
Ranma looked at her as she walked off. He didn't know why she always treated him like this. He knew she liked him. But having a life with such a violent person was horrible to contemplate. Ranma hated the throught of going through his life with someone he cared for, constantly showing disregard for everything he is, for who he is. Never trusting him. But he'd already broken one heart for the day. He'd save it for another time. he didn't think he could handle another crying girl so soon. No, only two people had to cry today, he thought. He had known it would come to this. People had always thought him to be insenstive, and stupid. Instead, he was always trying to find a way, for nobody to get hurt. Now was one of the few times Ranma knew, now matter what he did, nothing could be considered winning. He soon found himself on the roof of the Tendo house, and he finally let go. His tears coming slowly at first, then the sobs. Everything was wrong. He hated his life. In some ways, he had cared for Shampoo, but not in a way that he could build a lasting friendship, yet alone anything more. Not with how he was treated. He didn't want to be treated like Mousse. Even if he was treated better than him, he would always be an inferior male, even though he'd defeated saffron in battle.What's more, he knew that the two closest women to him, were much the same way, and he had to break it to them too. It was all unfair, and at that moment he hated himself, his father, and everyone who had put him into this mess.
Akane was in her room, and suddenly she heard something from the roof. She opened her window, and listened closely. Maybe Shampoo had come back to meet with Ranma. The sounds of choked sobs reached her. She realized that someone was up on the roof crying. The sobs soon turned into wails of pain. She knew it was Ranma. She wanted more than anything to go comfort him, but she was afraid. She'd never heard Ranma cry like this. Never heard this pain. She curled up on a ball on her bed, and tried to ignore the cries.