Side by Side
By M. Zephyr
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.
Ranma x Akane. Sequel to Togetherness. Alternate universe story in which Ranma and Akane are cursed to change into duplicates of one another.
Chapter 4. The Adoption of P-chan
It had taken him three days, but Ryoga looked at the sign on the wall with a smile of triumph. An umbrella kept the pouring rain off of his head as the glow of a streetlight allowed him to read the words "Tendo dojo." He gave a grim smile and whispered, "You can't hide from me now," then jumped over the wall.
He slipped into the house taking extreme care to make no noise, quietly tiptoeing up the stairs and down a hallway, seeking a room which might contain his archenemy. Three doors in succession had nameplates of "Kasumi," "Nabiki" and "Akane" before he reached the end of the hall. Turning around he went the other way, coming to a door without a nameplate. Easing it open, the light from a window revealed ... Ranma ... and a panda bear?
Ignoring the bear as a distraction, and just too bizarre to contemplate, Ryoga advanced on Ranma's sleeping form. Whispering hoarsely, he demanded, "Ranma! Wake up! It's me, Ryoga. Come on and fight me!" The light snores of the sleeping boy continued unbroken.
Well, if he wouldn't fight back ... Ryoga punched down, aiming straight for the head. Ranma rolled to his side at the last moment, resulting in the death of his pillow as Ryoga's fist punched through it. Becoming frustrated, Ryoga shouted, "Wake up, dammit!"
The panda bear woke at the shout. This was of course Ranma's father, Genma, who was of the opinion that his sleep should never be disturbed for anything less than an earthquake. Or free food. Unwilling to make the effort to distinguish between attacker and attackee, he simply picked up both boys and hurled them through the window. Ryoga got his umbrella up an instant before the rain struck, but Ranma had no such protection and in any event he splashed down in the koi pond. He rose female from the water, spluttering like some defective mermaid fountain.
"What the hell? Ryoga?! It's the freaking middle of the night! What do you want?!"
The panda bear was not the only resident of the Tendo house whose sleep was disturbed by Ryoga's shout, and now Ranma's yelling gave them further warning that something was going on. Kasumi and Akane emerged from their respective rooms, although only Akane had taken the time to arm herself, holding her trusty shinai. They began to search the house for a possible intruder.
Outside, in answer to Ranma's question, Ryoga hissed, "Revenge! That's what I want! You've made my life a living hell! You ..." He broke off as he got a better look at the person in front of him. "Ranma?" he asked, disbelieving, as the dim light and shadows resolved to show the figure of a female standing in front of him.
Ranma looked down at his curves in resignation. "Yeah, it's me. I fell into this damned cursed pool at Jusenkyo. Now, whenever I get wet ... this happens." He swept an arm down in front of his body. "So, isn't this revenge enough for you? Whatever you think I did, what more do you think you could do to me than this curse?"
Ryoga gave a bitter laugh. "You call that a curse? You still look human. When you ran out on our duel, I followed you, all the way to Jusenkyo ..."
"Yeah, I know," interrupted Ranma wearily. "I remember. Don't you? We fell off the cliff together. When I ran into you."
"What are you talking about?" Ryoga snarled. "That was some girl."
Ranma tilted his head. "Uh, yeah?" He looked down at his body meaningfully.
Ryoga blinked a couple of times before he got it. "You mean ... that really was you? When she told me her name was Ranma ... I thought I musta been hearing things." His face twisted. "That means you are the one who's responsible!"
"Responsible? Responsible for what?" Ranma shouted back. "I'm the one who kept us from falling in that damn spring! If it weren't for me, we'd of both dropped right in it and gotten some curse. I saved your ass."
"Saved me?!" snarled Ryoga.
"Yeah," replied Ranma more quietly, growing puzzled at the other boy's intense anger over the incident. "You've got to remember. Right? We landed on opposite sides of the pool. Then I warned you that the pools were cursed and ran off. I had a panda to catch and skin." He paused, taking in the other boy's enraged features, noting the umbrella keeping the rain off despite the fact he was trying to start a fight, finally adding things up.
Ranma put a hand up and lowered his face into it. "Ryoga?" he began weakly. "Don't tell me you went and fell into one of the pools after I warned you? I swear, I've met rocks that are smarter than you!"
"Shut up Ranma! The time for words is past!" Ryoga launched a flying kick which Ranma dodged, still trying to come to grips with the other boy's reason for wanting revenge.
Kasumi and Akane were just finishing the task of checking the inside of the house when they heard shouting and came to the realization that whatever it was, it was happening outside. They moved toward the door off the family room.
Ranma circled Ryoga slowly, wondering why he had to be awake for a fight in the middle of the night just because some idiot couldn't pay attention to a simple warning. "Come on, man! Why are you blaming me? I warned you that the springs were cursed! If you just gotta fight me, at least you could wait 'til the sun's up."
Ryoga's voice was choked with fury. "Do you have any idea what it's been like?! Turning into a little, helpless ... Nobody could defeat me before you showed up! Now anyone can! All they need is cold water."
Ranma grimaced, understanding well enough. He worried that he might someday find himself in his female form facing an opponent that he could only defeat with the strength of his male body. It was only too easy to picture how much worse it might be for Ryoga.
"Hey man, that's rough." Ranma tried to project compassion, both because he felt it and also because he longed to get back to his bed. "I sympathize. Believe me I do. And I'll do what I can to help. For instance, I promise I won't tell anyone about your curse. But damn it, it ain't my fault! Can't we at least sleep on it, and argue about it in the morning?"
"Here's my argument!" Ryoga attacked again. Ranma blocked the blow, then settled into defending himself while trying to figure out how to put an end to this nonsense.
When Kasumi and Akane opened the outside door, they saw a figure leap through the air with a large pack on his back. Both girls assumed it was a burglar as they had first imagined. Akane prepared to run outside and drive him off with her shinai, but Kasumi's hand restrained her. The older sister handed Akane a dumbbell, causing the younger sister to stare as she had not noticed Kasumi pick it up during their search. Akane shrugged her shoulders, weighed it in her hand for a moment, took careful aim, and clobbered the burglar in the back of the head with a well placed throw.
The umbrella was dropped. Ranma had just enough time to see a look of terror appear on Ryoga's face, before the boy leaped over the wall. Jumping on top of the wall himself, Ranma shouted "Ryoga!" even as his eyes took in the shirt and pants floating down to rest upon the backpack lying in the alley.
His leap atop the wall had taken Ranma into the light where the sisters could see him, and both heard him shout Ryoga's name. "Oh, it's only the boy who wanted to have a duel," Kasumi commented. "When Ranma-kun comes in, please point out to him that it's not very considerate to schedule fights at two in the morning." She covered a yawn with her hand, then turned around to return to her bed.
Akane had turned to stare blankly after Kasumi as she left. Turning back around, she called out, "Ranma?"
Ranma had been just about to jump down into the alley. Catching himself with a near stumble, he turned back around. "Akane? Is that you?"
Akane chose not to step out into the pouring rain. Speaking loudly enough to be heard, she said, "Yeah. Why were you and Ryoga fighting at this time of night? We have school in the morning you know."
Ranma shrugged, a gesture which was lost in the dark and rain. "Wasn't my idea. He showed up in my room and started the fight." Remembering that he wasn't going to tell anyone else about Ryoga's curse, he added, "He seems to have run off now. Probably lost. I'll be in shortly."
"Okay." Akane stifled a yawn of her own. "I'm heading back to bed. Good night."
"Night." He watched Akane disappear into the house, then jumped down into the alley. Retrieving the pack and clothes, Ranma jumped back over the wall, then left Ryoga's stuff out on the engawa. Sleepily he turned toward the stairs to climb back into his own bed, but then turned around and headed toward the furoba instead. He wanted to warm up a little after standing out in the cold rain and getting drenched in the freezing pond.
When Akane entered her own bedroom she paused uncertainly, sensing that something was amiss. She wasn't quite sure what triggered the sensation, some shadow that was out of place maybe, or some sound which registered below the level of consciousness. Ranma and their fathers had trained her well and she raised her arms warily, wondering if perhaps one of them was about to spring out at her, even though she could see the entire room and there hardly appeared to be anyplace for a person to hide.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
There was a sudden blur of motion and Akane reacted almost instinctively, her fist shooting out in a hard punch which connected solidly. Whatever she had hit gave off a squeal, flying back through the air to bounce off the wall and land on the floor in a daze. Akane looked down to see a small black piglet lying on her rug, wearing a handkerchief around its neck, its eyes unfocused.
"Oh dear!" Akane exclaimed. "Oh, you poor thing. I'm so sorry I hit you, but you startled me." She scooped up the limp creature and held it against her chest, examining it to see if it had taken any harm. She bit her lip softly at the sight of a large bump on the back of its head, the skin broken and leaking a small amount of blood. She resolutely turned toward her door to go get the first aid kit.
Down in the bathing room Ranma had started the furo filling with steaming water, then stepped back out to the changing room to pull off his wet clothes. Just as he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt, Akane walked in wearing her pajamas and carrying a small black pig.
"Akane?" Ranma sounded very puzzled. "What's with the pig?"
Akane sighed at beholding the sight, yet again, of Ranma in her body wearing a wet t-shirt. It was getting to the point where she could hardly muster the energy to get upset about it anymore. "Ranma. Haven't I asked you not to walk around like that?"
Her twin responded intelligently, "Huh?" He looked down. "Oh. Heh. Sorry. But it's not like there's anybody else up right now. Just you and me. Anyway - the pig?"
Akane sighed again, but had to admit he was right. "I found this little guy in my room. He's drenched from the rain, and has a big bump on the back of his head. I came down to get some medicine to put on it." She laid a towel on the floor and put the piglet down on it, then went over to a cabinet where she pulled out a box containing first aid supplies.
Ryoga's senses were starting to return to him. He looked around blearily, quickly deducing from the cathedral-like height of the ceiling that he was in pig form. There were two girls in the room with him. He blinked then stared again. They still looked alike. Twins apparently. He spun his head around in a spray of blood as one of the girls yanked off her wet t-shirt.
"Honestly!" Akane complained. "Can't you wait until I've left the room?"
"Oh, for God's sake, lighten up!" Ranma responded, half amused and half disgusted. "It's not like you can claim to've never seen this body before."
Akane snorted, but said nothing else as she picked up the little pig and cradled him to her chest. As she gingerly applied the medicine to its head, Ryoga sighed in bliss and cuddled into the soft curves against which he found himself pressed.
Ranma grimaced at the sight. "Hentai pig," he muttered. "I bet it's a boy."
"Huh?" Akane queried. "Why do you say that?" She lifted one of its legs for a peek. "Hey, how about that! You're right!" Ryoga buried his face against her chest, wanting to die of embarrassment.
Ranma slipped into the other room while Akane finished applying the medicine and put on a band-aid. She used the towel she had first put the pig down on to dry him off some more, then held him cradled tight in her arms trying to warm him up. She looked down with worry as the piglet gave a huge sneeze. At that point the door slid open and Ranma stepped back into the changing room as a male.
"Hey, Akane," Ranma called out, suppressed laughter echoing in his voice. "If you were upset with me a moment ago, then don't you think you'd better be leaving the room before I take this towel off? What're you hanging around for?"
"Oh, you!" Akane bit off angrily. She looked down at the pig in her arms again and her eyes softened, teeth nibbling at her lower lip. Looking up again, and in an entirely different tone of voice, she said, "I'm worried that he might catch a cold. Could you take him back in and warm him up?"
Ryoga had turned his head back around at the sound of the boy's voice to see the current bane of his life, Ranma Saotome. He didn't know where the other girl had gone, that didn't matter. He began struggling to get out of the grip holding him, wanting to bite Ranma at the very least.
Ranma stared at the animal which was writhing in Akane's arms and seemed to be glaring at him. "Why me? Why don't you do it?"
Akane pressed her lips together. "Because you're already, ah, dressed for it. Oh, come on! Please?"
The boy looked her in the eyes for a minute before his lips twisted. "Oh, all right! I'll do it. Here, hand it over."
He took the pig carefully from Akane's outstretched hands, scowling as it redoubled its struggles. Akane told him, "I'll be waiting out in the family room, so you can get dressed when you're done." She stepped out into the hall as Ranma stepped once more into the inner room.
"The things I do for that girl," Ranma muttered. He was getting ready to dip the pig in the hot water of the furo when it turned its head and bit him. Giving a yelp, Ranma released his hold and the piglet fell in. He jumped forward to grab it before it drowned, only to rear back in shock as a very naked Ryoga shot up out of the water.
"R-R-Ryoga? You ... you're a ... pig?"
The boy before him growled, deep and murderously. "Ranmaaa ... you are dead!" His fist shot out, only to smash through the bottom of a pail Ranma hurriedly interposed in self defense.
"Dammit! What is with you!" Ranma shouted in a low voice. "I'm sorry you got cursed - as a pig of all things - but it ain't my fault!"
"You ran out on our duel!" Ryoga shouted back, pointing a finger at the other boy, a finger which trembled with rage.
Ranma proclaimed in exasperation, "I waited three days! How long did you expect me to wait? I didn't make you follow me to China! I saved you from falling in that damned pool! I warned you what the pools did! You're the jackass who went and fell in one anyway!"
"Shut up and die!" Ryoga hissed, jumping out of the pool. He lunged at Ranma, who blocked the blow then spun around and caught Ryoga in the back with a kick. Ryoga flew into the shower, where he smacked face first into the back wall. Ranma quickly reached over and spun the faucet handle, dousing the other boy in cold water. He also splashed himself thoroughly.
"Damn," Ranma grunted as he looked down at his nude female body, the towel lying around his feet. The pig was lying on the floor of the shower, lightly dazed, and he knew that he'd better not give another boy a free peek at this body or Akane might really rip into him. He took a fast dip in the furo and came back out male just as the pig climbed back to its feet.
"Okay, Ryoga, cool down," Ranma said to the pig. "Let's try to talk about this sensibly. Huh?"
Ryoga, shivering from the cold water, heard the remark "cool down" as a taunt. He immediately leapt upon Ranma and sunk his teeth into the boy's arm.
"Son of a ...!" Ranma's other arm came across and smacked into the pig, sending him flying across the room. Ranma gave chase, and Ryoga scampered into the changing room on four hooves. Ranma slid the door shut behind himself on entering the same room. Seeing that Ryoga was trapped in the room, he took a moment to pull on some boxers.
Ryoga had backed up against one of the walls, baring his teeth at the boy in front of him. Ranma looked his way, gave an unconvincing smile, and crooked a finger in his direction. "Here, piggy, piggy, piggy. Nice piggy."
Ryoga snarled, angry at being called in such a way and jumped at Ranma once more, teeth snapping. Ranma, not wishing to be bitten again, grabbed him and slammed him into the floor. Akane chose that moment to walk through the door, without even bothering to knock.
"Ranma, what is going ... Oh! The poor piggy! What are you doing?" She ran over and shoved Ranma away, picking up the pig and cradling him in her arms once more. "You poor thing!" She shot Ranma a glare. "How could you treat him like that?!"
"Hey!" Ranma protested. "He bit me!"
"Oh sure," Akane answered dismissively. "And what were you doing to him?" She turned to address the pig once more. "Come on little guy. Let's go." She headed for the door.
"Uh ... where are you taking him?" Ranma inquired.
Akane gave him one last look. "To bed, of course." She smiled down at the pig, lifting him up to her face. "He's such a cute little thing!" Akane kissed him right on the snout, causing Ryoga to nearly faint dead away in ecstasy. She walked out the door.
"Bu-bu-but ..." It was too late. Akane was already gone. Ranma considered for a moment chasing down the hall after her, but if he did what was he going to say? That the pig was really Ryoga? Unbidden a memory arose, just a short time ago, of Ranma promising the other boy that he wouldn't tell anyone about the curse. Would he break that promise so soon after making it?
But if he didn't tell Akane, then she was going to let Ryoga sleep in her bed with her. He couldn't let that happen either, could he? Back and forth these thoughts went through his head, as he tried to decide what to do. He slowly pulled on clothes, then sat on a bench with his head in his hands, trying to decide how to handle this situation.
He wanted to tell Akane the truth, but he didn't want to break a promise. He didn't want Ryoga sleeping in Akane's bed, but he couldn't just come out and tell Akane why. He could sneak into her room after she fell asleep and try to talk Ryoga into leaving, but what if he wouldn't? Finally his head shot up and a nasty grin curved his lips. He collected some hot water and took it with him. There was no way Ryoga could try to stay in her room as a naked boy, was there?
But it was vital that Akane be asleep. Ranma didn't want her to press for explanations which he wasn't prepared to give, so he crept over the roof and lowered himself in front of her window. It bothered him a little to be spying into her room like this, but he shoved the thought aside. Peering carefully into the darkness, it did appear that Akane had fallen asleep.
The young woman in the bed was in fact asleep, although her dreams were troubled. She found herself trapped in a small room with no means of escape, and that boy Ryoga Hibiki was pressing himself up against her. She tried to squirm away, but he wouldn't let go, and the way he was looking at her ... Akane was starting to become frightened of the intensity in his eyes. From somewhere outside of the room she could hear Ranma's voice, saying, "I'll stop you Ryoga. I won't let you take advantage of her." Akane found herself hoping that he would hurry.
Ranma slowly slid open the window and slipped into the bedroom. He saw the pig sit up alertly, its beady eyes tracking his movements. A slow growl started to come from its throat.
Ranma held up the kettle of water, allowing the pig to take in the sight of it. Ranma whispered, "Okay now. I'm sure you don't want me to pour this on you right here. So just get out of that bed carefully and let's go."
Ryoga didn't know what to think about the girl who had taken care of him, cuddled him, and carried him up to her bed. He was enchanted by her kind nature, and overwhelmed by her willingness to shower him with her affection. At the same time he realized that these feelings were being bestowed upon a pig, not upon himself. But one thing he did know, her treatment of him was pissing off Ranma, and that was a very positive thing in his book.
On the other hand, he had no illusions about what would happen if he suddenly changed into an unclothed boy lying beside this girl. He slowly rose to his four legs, emitting a soft growl, as he pondered the best way to deal with the threat. When Ranma reached down to pick him up, Ryoga bit down hard on the boy's thumb.
"Mmmf!" Ranma managed to suppress a shriek. He threw Ryoga across the room to bounce off a wall, except that the pig turned it into a jump off of the wall. He landed at Ranma's feet, and shot up into the air between the boy and the bed. Ranma tried to grab him, missed, and then Ryoga landed right on his shoulders.
Ranma teetered, overbalanced, saw what was about to happen but had nothing to grab onto. He closed his eyes in resignation as he fell full length along Akane's body, his nose buried into the pillow right beside her ear. To his complete lack of surprise, her steady breathing stopped, replaced a moment later by a snort and then a puzzled questioning sound.
The boy quickly lifted himself, pushing up from the mattress, trying to get off the bed as quickly as he could. He watched her eyes track him as he rose, realizing it was far too late to prevent the knowledge that he had been lying atop her. He cast about in his head for something to say, some word to reclaim this moment from the abyss into which it was falling, but his mind was completely blank.
Akane, muzzily coming out of her sleep, saw that Ranma had been lying upon her, in the dark, in her room. Worse, she was coming out of a dream in which a boy had been, if not molesting her, at least pressing unwanted attention upon her. Her fogged mind could hold only one conclusion, and her arm swung across at high speed to slap Ranma across the face, sending him staggering.
There was no way that she, Akane Tendo, was going to let any boy assault her in her own bedroom! She grabbed her shinai where it was leaning against the wall, and promptly began beating him across the head and shoulders. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
"Ow! Let me ... ow! Dammit! Lemme explain!"
"There's nothing to explain you pervert!" She kicked him for good measure.
Someone banged several times on the other side of the bedroom wall.
Ranma clutched his shin in pain. "Ryoga ..."
"... is not here!" Akane finished for him, hissing. "You were the one grabbing at me!" With a mighty swing of the shinai, she sent Ranma hurtling through the window. Unfortunately, he went through the glass of the closed half, rather than the open half, taking a company of shards through the air with him.
Pieces of glass cut small slices into his skin. The pouring rain instantly transformed him into a girl once more. He smashed into the trunk of a tree, bounced off, and slammed flat on his back on the hard ground, breath exploding from his lungs at the impact.
Up in her bedroom, Akane worked on getting her breathing back under control, slowing her heartbeat. She looked down at her new pet, which looked up at her with shining eyes. Akane looked at the window again, trying to wrap her mind around what had happened, certain that she was missing something.
Why ... how ... could Ranma attempt to do something like that to her? Unbidden, the thought came to her that he couldn't, wouldn't. She had come to know him too well. This just wasn't something that he would do. But then ... what was he doing? What other explanation was there?
Tentatively Akane stepped over to the window, careful not to put her foot down on any broken glass. Peering out, she saw Ranma stiffly lifting himself off of the ground, looking like her double. A somewhat bedraggled double, just at the moment.
The girl at the window called down, "What were you doing in my room?"
Inside, Ranma was seething. Okay, he knew it looked bad, and maybe he deserved something for his clumsy handling of the mess. But to find himself out in the cold rain again, female again, covered with bruises and cuts, was just too much for him at the moment.
"What does it matter?" he called back up to her bitterly. "You ain't gonna listen to me."
Akane took a deep breath. She continued, trying for a reasonable tone of voice. "Look, I'm sorry I lost my temper so fast. Okay? Try to see it from my point of view. What were you up to?"
Ranma was in no mood to be reasonable, and he realized he had no explanation he could give without breaking his promise. Not that Ryoga really deserved him to honor his promise after everything the little ... creep had done tonight, but as far as he was concerned at the moment, Akane could just keep him with her if that's what she wanted.
A sarcastic voice came from the next window down, "You two ought to plan your midnight trysts before bedtime. Could you wait and finish your lover's spat in the morning?" Nabiki might care more about her little sister than she had a few months ago, but that didn't excuse waking her in the middle of the night.
"Go back to bed, Nabiki," Ranma growled. "That's what I'm doing." He stomped away around the corner of the house.
Akane pursed her lips, irritated, but there was clearly no reasoning with him tonight. Picking up the little pig, she climbed back into her bed and fell asleep once more.
Ranma was so upset that he didn't sleep at all the rest of that night, what little was left of it. He took great pleasure in being the one to initiate the early morning sparring session with his father, sending his old man on a quick trip out the window and into the koi pond. He was seated at the breakfast table, already inhaling his meal, when Akane sleepily trudged down the steps and into the room. Everyone else exclaimed in startlement over the little black pig she was carrying, listening with interest as she explained about finding it. Ranma merely scowled.
When the explanation drew to a close, Nabiki looked across the table and said, "By the way, lover boy, would you like some tips on how to sneak into a girl's bedroom at night? Part of the trick is not to wake up the rest of the family."
Akane and Ranma both frowned deeply. Kasumi sighed through flattened lips. She had been planning to speak to the two youngest members of the household privately about this, later. "It was quite inappropriate of them to be doing anything of the sort, Nabiki."
Akane defended herself crossly. "Hey! I didn't ask him to show up in my room! It was all his idea!"
Ranma, not wanting to talk about last night at all, just buried his face in his hands. He then bent over and lay face and hands both on the table. He figured that if he tried to say anything, that somehow it was going to get twisted and it would end up sounding even worse.
Soun had slept through the ruckus last night, and knew no more of what had happened than what his daughters were hinting. "Now, now. Boys will be boys. So long as Akane made him leave, no harm done."
Akane turned to glare at her father, scarcely crediting the lack of effort he was willing to put into defending her honor. Even if she was pretty sure her honor hadn't been at risk. She turned back to angrily shoving rice into her mouth, and attempting to feed an occasional tidbit to her new pet.
Genma had not bothered to change back after the sparring session, and so was sitting at the table as a panda. He completely ignored the conversation in favor of stuffing his face with as much food as possible.
After arriving at school, Ranma and Akane were surrounded by a large crowd of students, mostly girls, as soon as her hair was seen. They were obliged once more to tell the story about the magical hair tonic which Ranma had brought back from China. Both teenagers winced at the skeptical looks, but kept insisting that it was the truth. Although deeply suspicious regarding the existence of this oh too convenient magical item which Ranma just happened to have in his possession, the other girls were nonetheless unable to explain the miraculous hair growth any other way. In the end they offered their congratulations to Akane on the recovery of her hair, howsoever it had happened.
Leaving the school that afternoon, Akane spotted Tatewaki Kuno a short distance from the gate. He appeared to be examining something in his hands. Ranma was inclined to simply continue on their way, thus giving the proud Kuno the ultimate insult of ignoring him as a threat. Akane, however, stopped not far from him and inquired caustically, "What are you doing here, Kuno? You're supposed to stay away from Furinkan."
The boy turned and gave a sunny smile on seeing who had addressed him. "Ah, my fierce tigress! I came nigh upon these hallowed halls on a small matter of business and, in truth, have not set foot on the school grounds themselves. However, my day is made more perfectly complete through the fortunes of fate which have allowed me the pleasure to encounter you. If ..."
"Whatcha got there, Kuno?" Ranma interrupted. Not that he was really interested in the answer, but he wanted to cut short what appeared likely to be a tedious speech.
"That is a private matter, you scurrilous knave," Tatewaki responded, lifting his nose high in the air.
"Oh? Lemme see!" He jumped in the air, did a flip, and landed on Kuno's head.
"Away, you rogue!" Kuno's bokken appeared in his hand and flashed through the air above his head. Ranma nimbly leaped over it and landed beside Akane once more, but he was now frowning. He'd gotten a glimpse of photographs, and he thought he might have seen Akane on one of them.
Ranma's voice was no longer bored. It was brusque, even peremptory as he demanded, "Who's been selling you photos of Akane?" Beside him, Akane sucked in air, feeling as though she'd been punched in the gut.
"That is none of your business," came the lofty answer. The boy brandished his bokken, ignoring the danger signals from the other martial artist. "I am in a mellow mood at this time, but beware lest you tempt my rage."
Ranma's eyes narrowed dangerously. He darted in, then danced out of range again, dodging the strikes from the other boy's blade with ease. Without being obvious about it, he maneuvered Kuno into facing the opposite direction down the street. The younger boy then stepped back innocently, eyes wide, hands behind his back. Kuno stared at him suspiciously, expecting some trick and ready for whatever Ranma might try.
While still waiting for Ranma to make his move, Kuno suddenly stiffened, eyes widening in surprise, then toppled like a felled tree. Akane looked down at him furiously, slowly relaxing the fist with which she had clipped Kuno behind the ear. She gave a long, irritated exhalation of breath, then crouched and started picking up the rectangles he had dropped.
"Nice punch, Akane," Ranma commented, smiling.
She flashed a quick smile of her own in his direction. "Thanks." She turned her attention back to the images in her hands and frowned, sighing.
"More photos of you, right?" Ranma asked seriously.
Akane looked up at him and her mouth twisted. "Sort of. My appearance, anyway. But they're pictures of me downtown with Yuka and Sayuri. One of them shows me with a fair bit of make up on my face. I think they're really you, from that little shopping expedition you went on."
Ranma paled. He stepped over quickly and examined the pictures over her shoulder as she held them up for him. His stomach sank. "Ewww! Damn! I think I'm gonna be sick. The idea of Kuno ... ewww!"
Akane muttered, "I know what you mean." She stuffed the photographs in her schoolbag to throw in the trash at the first opportunity. "I'd really like to find out who's been selling these to him. I think I'd make him eat them!" The pair turned and walked off down the street, where they soon jumped atop a fence and started running.
A slight figure stepped out from behind a parked van, looked down at the prone figure of Kuno, and shivered.
When they got home Ranma was perturbed to see that Ryoga was still hanging around the house in pig form. He had hoped the other boy would have gotten lost sometime during the day and disappeared. He nearly gagged to see Akane cuddling and cooing over him, but did his best to ignore it as he called Akane to get ready for their afternoon training session.
His tension mounted through the evening meal as Akane again held the pig in her lap and fed him morsels from her own dinner. Kasumi eyed him worriedly as she noticed that he wasn't eating as much as usual, but decided to let him work whatever it was out on his own unless she saw something worse than a bit of stress and reduced appetite. After the meal, Akane and Ranma each went to their own rooms to labor over homework.
Or rather Akane did so. Ranma was unable to focus on the paper in front of him. Ryoga was in Akane's room with her, and he just knew the pig was planning to sleep in there again tonight. Ranma had no wish to make another attempt which would get him labeled "pervert" again, but the idea of just letting Ryoga get away with this was eating away at him. Akane was his friend, and that jerk was taking advantage of her! But how could he stop it without going into her room, and without coming right out and telling her?
The more he thought it over, the more determined he became to put a stop to this immediately. He would not break his promise and "tell" her about the curse. On the other hand, perhaps he could twist his way around the edges of that promise? Although his father might not know the definition of the word "honor," Ranma did, but his upbringing had nonetheless taught him a degree of elasticity where that concept was concerned.
In the end he decided to write a note explaining it all. This made him squirm just a little, but he reckoned that he had only promised not to "tell," which left him free to "write" it down. Once he had penned the brief note explaining the nature of Ryoga's curse, how he had discovered it, and what he had really gone into in her room to do last night, Ranma folded the paper and sealed it in an envelope. With a glint of determination in his eye, he picked up the envelope and headed down the hall.
Akane looked up with irritation at the knock on her door. These math problems were giving her a lot of trouble and she wasn't too happy about being interrupted. Her expression softened a little as she caught sight of the piglet sleeping on the blanket at the foot of her bed. Looking toward the door she called out, "Yes? Come in."
The door opened to show Ranma standing there, looking unaccountably nervous. "Hey Akane. Can I, uh, bother you for a minute?"
Akane put her pencil down, hoping this wouldn't take long. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"
Ranma's eyes flicked over to the sleeping pig, then returned to her face. "I, um, have something for you. Something you need to read. It's kinda important. So, um, here." He held out the envelope.
Akane took it from him, turning it over to see that there was no writing on the outside. Puzzled, she asked, "Should I read it now?"
Ranma pictured this and suffered a minor attack of cowardice. "Uh, no. You can read it, uh, after I go. Um ... see ya." He quickly backed out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Akane stared after him. "Okay, that was a bit weird." She turned back around toward her desk, looking down at the envelope, but her eye also caught sight of the math problem she was in the middle of solving. She remembered the step she was at and what needed to be done next, and wanted to get it over with. Thinking she could read the note later, she opened a desk drawer and stuffed it inside, then went back to her homework. There were a lot more problems to do, and the amount of concentration she needed to finish the assignment was exhausting.
By the time Akane wearily climbed into bed she had completely forgotten the envelope in the drawer.
After returning to his room, Ranma dithered in nervous agitation, wondering why he wasn't hearing an explosion. As time crawled by, he became more restless and worried. Finally, when the hour had grown late, he decided to check up on Akane. He slipped out the window and made his way across the roof.
Lowering himself over the edge of the roof outside her bedroom, the boy was surprised to see that Akane's room was dark. He allowed his eyes to slowly adjust, picking out features by the dim illumination coming in through her window. As her sleeping form resolved itself to his sight, Ranma's eyes widened in shock to see Akane's arm curled around the pig, holding it tight against her side. He forgot himself so far as to lose his grip, slamming into the ground below.
‹But ... but ... why ... why would she still let him sleep with her? Even if he isn't human right now. That ... that's not right! How could she?!› His mind was spinning, trying to come to grips with what he had seen. He felt a pain down in his gut that he couldn't identify, together with a spark of anger that she would accept his rival's presence as a pet.
Ranma made his way back into the house where he literally threw himself down onto his futon. He kept trying to banish the image from his mind, unsuccessfully. It was a long time before sleep came that night, and when it did it brought unpleasant dreams with it.
In the hour before dawn a young Chinese woman with purple hair left the freighter whose captain she had terrorized into giving her passage. She stepped ashore in a strange land on which she had never before laid eyes, carrying a small pack with a few changes of clothing and other necessities. In her hands were the two chui with which she planned to kill the girl she pursued, Ranma Saotome.
Shampoo looked around herself in the dim gray predawn light. During her pursuit of Ranma across China she had seen first towns, then cities, the likes of which she could scarcely have imagined before. Now she was in yet another city, but this one was in a foreign land and she craned her head from side to side as she made her way down the streets. She could already see many differences from Shanghai, the city in China in which she had last seen Ranma. As she overheard the soft speech of the few pedestrians who were abroad at this hour, Shampoo started worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. She had studied the Japanese language, a little, but she was far from proficient. The degree to which that was true rapidly became clear to her as she struggled to understand the conversations around her.
The girl waged an internal battle not to give in to despair. Her quarry had been abroad in this island nation for an entire month, and Shampoo could only hope that the Japanese girl had not taken ship for some other place. Trying to find Ranma in this land where she barely knew the language, customs or geography seemed hopeless at the moment. She clung desperately to the few clues she had, the name Ranma Saotome, that she practiced a school of martial arts called "Anything Goes," that she traveled with a pet panda bear. At least the last item in that list was uncommon, and might make the girl stand out in people's memories.
For the thousandth time Shampoo cursed herself for giving in to pride and condemning Ranma with the Kiss of Death. It hadn't been necessary. It was an old custom, rarely used in modern times, but on that day lying in the dirt after her defeat, her shame had seemed to demand it. Now look what it had got her. If she returned home without defeating the girl she would be further shamed, an object of ridicule. Any hope Shampoo had of one day succeeding her great grandmother as a matriarch of their people would be gone in such an event.
Another worry which Shampoo worked hard to ignore, although it gnawed away at her gut, was whether or not she could really go through with it. Among her people, she was the best fighter of her generation. She had won contest after contest, defeated all challengers from among her peers, until the fateful day Ranma had walked into their village. But she had never before killed another human being. Oh sure, it had been easy to give the kiss, easy to declare that she would do so. But her dreams were haunted by nightmares of standing over a broken body, covered in the girl's blood, feeling horror at the sight. Shampoo would wake after these dreams, cold and shaking, fighting back tears, trying to banish the memory.
She also knew that if she now succeeded in her mission, it would likely be many years before she saw her home again. Had she killed Ranma within a few miles of the village, the body would have been disposed of and no one would have been the wiser. Here in this foreign land where she stood out so obviously and knew so little of their ways, was it at all likely that she would escape after committing what the local people would see as an act of murder? Shampoo had no illusions on that score. Ranma's death would most likely be followed by years in a foreign prison, before she could ever hope to see her father and great grandmother again. And she had to hope it would be a Japanese prison. She didn't want to imagine what might happen to her if the Japanese handed her over to Chinese authorities to be dealt with, an embarrassment to be swept out of sight.
Shampoo took a deep breath and raised her chin. Such worrying about the future was for the weak, it was not befitting a warrior of the Joketsuzoku. With determination she marched up to a café which had put out an "Open" sign to get a bite to eat, and to ask some questions about whether people had heard news reports about a panda bear or where she could find information on martial arts institutions.
Akane woke that morning feeling a little uncomfortable. She remembered some dreams she had during the night, dreams in which she was once again trapped with Ryoga Hibiki and Ranma was trying to warn her or rescue her, she wasn't sure which. It was disturbing, and she wondered what it meant. She smiled as the little pig beside her blinked open its eyes and gave a big yawn. Akane scratched under his chin, then got up to change out of her pajamas into a gi, not noticing how the little pig turned toward the wall during this process.
When Ranma joined Akane out in the dojo, he frowned at the sight of the pig sitting on one of the benches against the wall. The pig gave a snort and glared back. Ranma was at a loss to understand what Akane could see in the jerk Ryoga, but it was clear that at the very least, she must feel some measure of compassion for him. Why else would she have continued to allow him to sleep in her room? Not that he could possibly have stayed in her room if he wasn't a pig.
Ranma hoped it was only compassion.
The boy resolutely turned to look at Akane instead of Ryoga. He had seen to it that she knew about the curse. What Akane chose to do with that knowledge was her own decision. He was damned if he was going to ask her why she was still letting him sleep in her room.
"You ready to start?" Ranma called out, somehow managing to keep his voice even.
"Yep!" Akane replied happily.
Half an hour was spent in tedious exercises, working on speed, balance, control and similar factors. The pig watched it all with what appeared to be a degree of interest. When the exercises were completed to Ranma's satisfaction, he rewarded Akane as usual by sparring with her. Afterward they went back into the house to clean up and eat breakfast, with Ranma pointedly ignoring the pig the entire time. Finally, they headed off to school. Ranma's spirits were actually lifted despite their destination, since Ryoga was left back at the house.
Ranma had to stand in the hallway holding buckets of water no fewer than three times that day, due to failure to pay attention in his classes. He just couldn't wrap his mind around how easily Akane had forgiven Ryoga for using his cursed form to sneak into her bed, let alone that she had allowed him to do so again. Also, why was she permitting him to continue hanging around, pretending to be her pet? He had thought he was getting to know Akane pretty well, but the Akane he knew should have torn Ryoga limb from limb for such behavior.
His lack of attention reached a peak while playing baseball during gym class, when he failed to catch an easy fly ball that came his way. Daisuke stormed over from second base to Ranma's position at short stop and loudly demanded to know why his head had been stuck up his backside all day. Ranma flushed, but just told the other boy to go to hell, and promised he'd wake up. He did manage to stay focused on the game a little better for the remainder of the class period.
When they walked into the house that afternoon, Akane was gloomily complaining to Ranma, "I can't believe that old woman splashed us again. Does she spend all day at that gate waiting for us to walk by?"
Ranma, speaking out of Akane's face, gave her a bitter smirk as he replied, "It's the only explanation I can think of."
At that moment Ryoga walked up, still in his pig form, and saw Akane and Ranma removing their shoes. Without thinking, he bared his teeth, then jumped up and sunk them into "Ranma's" arm. ‹Ha! Take that!› he crowed internally.
Akane shrieked and smacked her hand across her pet's snout, hard. "Bad boy!" The pig fell to the floor, somehow landing on its feet.
Ryoga shook his head to clear it before looking up to see the boy above him pouting. He snorted at the thought that Ranma wasn't even man enough to follow up and attack him. Feeling smug, he jumped up into "Akane's" arms.
He was extremely surprised when the girl's hand flew out and smacked him into the wall before he could reach her. He fell to the floor, dazed, then scampered away. He was thoroughly confused.
Akane turned to Ranma and sighed. "I guess he doesn't know me in this form. We'd better get some hot water and change back."
Ranma's mouth was twisted with disgust, saying nothing, although he followed her into the kitchen. He was thinking, ‹What the hell? Does that mean she hasn't told Ryoga about her curse yet? I guess not. Huh.›
When Akane got up to her bedroom, female once more, she found the pig in the middle of her floor. Its head was swiveling around, as if trying to decide where to go. When he caught sight of the girl who had just entered the room, he started backing up warily.
Akane smiled and stepped over to him quickly, scooping him up and cradling him in her arms. "Mommy's sorry she smacked you. But I don't want you biting, uh, Ranma any more. That's not nice. If you do it again, I may have to put you on a leash or in a cage or something."
Ryoga shuddered. He decided that he'd better pursue more subtle tactics of revenge while he was stuck in this form. He wished he'd been able to find the furoba like he had been trying, instead of ending up in this bedroom again. ‹Oh, well. There are compensations,› he thought as he snuggled up closer to Akane's soft chest.
At dinner that evening, Ranma looked with disfavor at the pig sitting on Akane's knees. Gesturing toward the animal with his chopsticks, he remarked, "Do you really think you should be feeding him from the table all of the time? It can't be good for him."
Ryoga turned a high intensity glare on Ranma and growled softly. Kasumi spoke up, saying, "Yes, you're quite right. Akane, while you're in school tomorrow I'll go out to a pet shop and buy some food for your little piggy."
Akane, who had begun to give Ranma a mild scowl, instead turned and gave a thoughtful look to her older sister. Her mouth curved up into a smile and she said, "Thanks, oneechan. I guess that would be for the best."
Ranma lowered his face, staring at his bowl of rice, his eyebrows drawn down darkly. ‹Huh. Didn't expect her to agree to that. I wonder what Ryoga thinks of the idea of eating pet food. He hasn't darted out the door, at least. O'course, he doesn't have anything to worry about until after breakfast tomorrow.›
Akane, continuing to smile, looked around the table at everyone. "By the way, I've decided to name the little fellow 'P-chan'."
Nabiki stared at her little sister, blinking a few times. "P-chan?"
Akane picked the pig up and rubbed her nose against his snout. "Yes, P-chan. 'P' is for 'pig'. Him's just the cutest little pig, isn't him?" Nabiki and Ranma both pretended to gag while Kasumi looked on serenely. The two fathers didn't seem to be paying any attention.
Nabiki decided she desperately wanted a change of subject. "So did you guys hear about our victory today?"
Ranma looked up, curious. "Huh? No. What victory?"
"Furinkan's gymnastics club had a match against a team from St. Hebereke. We won. I'm surprised you didn't hear, because it was supposed to be some sort of martial arts gymnastics. The way I heard it, the St. Hebereke team played like they'd never been in such a match before."
"Huh," Ranma grunted thoughtfully. "Wish I'd known about that. Might've been interesting to watch." He shrugged, then dismissed the matter as being of no importance. From the expressions passing across her face, Akane had followed a similar train of thought.
Later that night Ranma was walking down the hall, preparing to go down to take his bath. He passed Akane coming up the stairs, obviously just finished with her own to judge by the towel wrapped around her hair. He found himself unable to keep his mouth shut.
"Where's that pig of yours? You didn't take him in the bath with you, did you?"
Akane stopped and stare at him, perplexed. "What's wrong with you these days? Why does P-chan bother you so much?"
Ranma looked away, not sure how to answer. Why did it bother him so much? It was her choice, wasn't it? If she wanted to make a pet out of a creep like Ryoga, what right did he have to tell her not to? Maybe if he really were her fiancé, or something. But he and she had both agreed that, no matter what their other family members might say, they weren't really engaged.
Ranma turned back, struggling to keep from scowling at her. He wasn't able to keep the bitterness entirely out of his voice. "I just can't understand why you want to make a pet out of him. It's ... it's stupid! Do you really plan to let him keep sleeping in your bed?"
Akane tilted her head, unable to understand why her friend seemed so troubled about it. "Of course I am."
"Why?" The question was loud, drawn out, filled with a demand for understanding.
Akane gave him a smile. The answer was simple, really. "Because I love him." Hoping he would understand now, she turned and strolled down the hall to her bedroom.
Ranma stared after her, eyes wide, jaw hanging open. A lump lodged in his throat, huge, leaving him gasping for breath. An inexplicable pain filled his chest. ‹She ... she loves Ryoga? How ... why ... No! She can't!› He slowly collapsed to sit on the top step of the stairs. An endless time passed before he finally rose, his mind empty of all thought, and continued on his way with the lifeless walk of a zombie to finally take his bath.
Author's note:
For those who are wondering about the timing of Ryoga and the gymnastics match, I had Ryoga arrive in Nerima for the first time a bit later in this universe than he did in canon. About a week later. This allowed me to give Akane a bit more time to recover from her hospitalization before the events with Ryoga take place.
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