Chapter 9
Sweet & Sour Truth
Breakfast at the Tendo dojo a few weeks later was just like any normal day; the Saotomes finished their workout (with the regularly scheduled fall into the koi pond), Ranma came to the table greeting Akane with a smile, and the Tendos looked on in smiles themselves as Genma the panda lumbered off to take a bath. Akane looked to her fiance and smiled back.
"Ranma, don't you want to change back right now?" she asked.
"Ah, it's ok for now. I may hate the body but right now, I'd rather eat!" Ranma answered and began to dig in like a back hoe. Akane raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"Leave some for the rest of us, ok?" Akane teased. Ranma looked to her fiance and smiled sheepishly.
"I suppose that might be easier like this!" Ranma teased back and made a silly face. Soun placed down his newspaper.
"What's easier like this, Ranma?" Soun asked with a stern look on his face. The Anything Goes School of Martial Arts needed to be carried on and Ranma's comment seemed to fly in the face of that. Akane grimaced along with Ranma as both girls realized Ranma had revealed something dangerous.
"Oh, it's just that..." Ranma searched for an answer, "...it's just that, well, uh... it's just that a... girl's body can't take as much food, right? I mean my stomach is smaller now! Isn't that right, Akane?" she turned to Akane and started laughing in fear.
"That's, uh, right!" Akane laughed herself. This seemed like the stupidest plan but she went along with it anyhow. "I told him that myself!" Soun looked to both of them. He smiled suddenly.
"Well, now, I suppose you're right!" Soun announced and joined the laughter.
'Whew! That was close!' Ranma thought, still laughing.
'Really, Dad?' Akane looked to her father. 'How did you not find us out?'
"RANMA SAOTOME!" a voice rang out with anger. "I found you at last!" The Tendos and Ranma turned around to find a teenager about to plunge a bamboo umbrella straight into Ranma's back. Ryoga had come to continue his "revenge"!
"Ryoga?!" Ranma acknowledged. "How did you find me here?" Ryoga, seeing the red head in front of him was not who he was looking for, stopped short of his strike and dropped to the ground.
"I'm sorry, miss. I mistook for Ranma Saotome." Ryoga apologized.
"Oh! We have a visitor!" Kasumi chimed in. "Hello there! Are you one of Akane and Ranma's friends?" Ryoga growled.
"I don't know who Akane is but Ranma Saotome is definitely not a 'friend' !" Ryoga cried. He turned back to Ranma and bowed. Akane screwed up her face, completely confused.
"Ryoga, what the..." Ranma began.
"Again, I apologize for trying to harm you, miss." Ryoga explained. "I had no clue Ranma had a sister but you definitely look like each other so you can understand, can't you?" Akane shook her head.
"He doesn't know, does he Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Ranma's is here?" Ryoga asked fervently, gripping his umbrella tighter.
"I'm right in front of you, dumbass!" Ranma answered.
"You, share his name?" Ryoga asked with confusion.
"This is like Kuno all over again." Nabiki commented on the scene, taking a bite of her breakfast.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Ranma yelled and went to grab a water kettle. Coming back, she addressed Ryoga. "Now watch carefully, and trust me when I say, this isn't black magic!" The last thing Ranma wanted was for someone to think she was cheating again. She proceeded to pour the water on her head and watched Ryoga's face as she changed back. "Now do you get it?" Ranma asked. Ryoga said nothing as his face displayed no discernible emotion. Finally, he lowered his head and seemed to be... crying?
"Ranma!" Ryoga began, clenching a fist. "I understand that somehow you have the ability to change sexes." Akane pondered as to why Ryoga would just accept this fact so calmly. "But don't think that any 'disguise' will get you out of our fight!" He leapt to strike and Ranma deflected the bamboo umbrella.
"Ah, would you just give it a rest?!" Ranma bellowed and did a flip to the side in order to keep the house and the Tendos out of the way of Ryoga's fight.
"No way! I finally found you again and I don't intend to let even my bad sense of direction get in the way of my revenge?"
"Revenge? What's he talking about? What did Ranma do to him?" Kasumi asked fearfully.
"It's a long story sis!" Nabiki answered, as Soun leaned in to hear the conversation as well. "But basically, Ryoga here went to junior high with Ranma and a stupid bread feud caused him to hate Ranma. Now he wants to 'destroy' Ranma's happiness or something like that."
"And his bad sense of direction?" Soun asked curiously.
"The first fight those two were ever supposed to have never happened because Ryoga traveled all over Japan looking for an empty lot that was behind his own house!" Nabiki answered and watched her sister and father's eyes bug out.
"Oh my! The poor dear must be so hungry if he gets lost all the time." Kasumi decided. "After all, he doesn't seem to get anywhere he wants." Soun nodded.
"While it is the duty of the owners of a dojo to take on any challenge at any time, it is breakfast and even a challenger deserves a fair fight." Soun declared. He got up and walked towards where Ryoga and Ranma were fighting. He placed a hand on Ryoga's shoulder, who stopped suddenly in his fight and looked up to the Soun. The latter's face beaming, Ryoga was confused.
"Huh?"
"Son," Soun began, "I understand that you and Ranma here have some unfinished business but it's still early in the morning and you deserve a fair fight." Ranma stared at the Tendo patriarch. What was going on here? "Please, your journeys across Japan must make it hard to find time to eat a real meal. Please join us and then you and Ranma are more than welcome to use the Tendo dojo to finish your challenge from long ago." Ryoga and Ranma shared the same bug eyed, confused look and stared at each other.
"Uh, sure." Ryoga finally answered.
A minute later, Kasumi had an extra meal ready and placed it before Ryoga who sat to Ranma's right at the living room table. Kasumi had worked just a little bit more fancier on this meal in honor of the guest and Ryoga could not help but stare happily at the meal. Kasumi smiled, knowing what the look meant.
"Itadakimasu!" Ryoga shouted and began shoveling food into his mouth. Kasumi smiled again as the teenager gorged himself. "Thank you, Kasumi! You're father was right about one thing, I never get meals like this on the road!" Soun smiled.
"Like I said, you should be at Ranma's level! It's only fair and I know Ranma would rather have an opponent at his equal." Ranma stared at Soun. While Genma had spoken with Ranma consistently about not fighting anyone below his level as it was dishonorable, Ranma would have rather decided this on his own. He looked to Akane and she smiled.
'I do suppose some things are okay when decided for you.' Ranma decided to himself. "So Ryoga, where did 'ya get to this time?" Ranma addressed his 'opponent'. Placing his chopsticks down briefly, Ryoga glared at Ranma but knew not to strike and dishonor the family before him by breaking their offer.
"Well if you must know, I've been all across Shikoku and Yokohama." Ryoga answered.
"That 's insane!" Soun gasped. "How can even the worst sense of direction get you that far away from Tokyo?" Ryoga merely hung his head in shame.
"I know, right?" Nabiki agreed. "I know you don't get where you're going immediately but I figured telling you about the Tendo dojo would at least keep you in Tokyo, Ryoga." Nabiki smiled as four flabbergasted people sat before her as she revealed who had led Ryoga here.
"You told him where Ranma was staying, Nabiki?" Akane asked with a tinge of anger. The last thing Akane wanted was more fights in their lives. Ranma and Akane had just recently stopped the insanity before school. Ranma pounded his fists into the table.
"Why'd you go and do that, Nabiki?" Ranma demanded.
"Hey, you almost caused me to go soft with the whole Kuno thing. I had to get my payment somehow!" Nabiki winked and watched as Ranma and Akane's anger turned into shame.
"Oh." was all Ranma could manage.
"It doesn't matter Saotome!" Ryoga announced and stood up as he was finished with his food. "I would have found you eventually!"
"You sure about that, Ryoga?" Ranma countered. "It took you so long to find Furinkan High – School." Ryoga growled and began to throw a punch. However, Soun stepped between the teenagers and stopped Ryoga's fist.
"Ryoga!" Soun stated. "I said you could us our dojo, not our living room!" Ryoga gulped.
"Ye... yes sir!" he acknowledged.
Five minutes later, Ryoga and Ranma stood across from each other in the dojo of question as the rest of the family and Genma sat far away enough so as to not get involved in the fight about to occur. Akane couldn't help but feel sad. She had tried to get Ranma to stop.
"Ranma, I know we are both martial artists but I just can't stand to see you get hurt." Akane begged.
"Akane, you know I can't turn down a challenge." Ranma answered. Looking towards Ryoga, he sighed. "Besides, Ryoga won't quit until he's destroyed my happiness as he put it. And I won't lose that... you are my happiness." Akane gasped and suddenly realized she couldn't stop this if she wanted to.
Akane returned her attention to the present and sighed. 'Just don't get hurt, ok?' Akane silently asked. She had seen Ranma get injured before and the more the couple liked each other, the more Akane realized just what Ranma felt when he said happened when he saw pain on Akane's face.
Soun addressed the fighters. "Alright! Ryoga, Ranma is a member of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Therefore this is a no holds bar contest... you can use just about anything but don't get reckless. As members of the Anything Goes School, we still have honor and do not use cheap tactics!" Ryoga merely nodded his head.
"I have no intentions to do anything except beat Ranma to a pulp!" Ryoga declared. Soun nodded and turned to Ranma.
"You are a member of this school, Ranma, remember your duty!" Soun shouted. Ranma sighed and shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah..." he answered.
"Alright then, let the match begin!"
Ranma and Ryoga stared each other down for a bit before Ryoga took the first move. "Shall we pick up where we left off?" Ryoga asked with a malicious grin and opened up his umbrella again. Ranma had been ready for this and as the umbrella in question came flying towards him, Akane gasped in surprise as instead of merely dodging the weapon Ranma kicked it into the air. The device lost its spinning momentum and tumbled across the dojo to land beside Genma. "Well, I guess you do have some skills other than running away, Saotome!" Ryoga sneered.
"Hey, you're the one who came after me!" Ranma countered. "Besides, I've had enough fights at school to fill a lifetime."
'Ain't that the truth?' Akane agreed silently.
"Well my umbrella isn't the only trick I have either!" Ryoga declared. Ranma watched as Ryoga began pulling bandanas off of his head, though he still wore one of his own. It was as if Ryoga had infinite bandanas at his dispense. He began to spin them in his hand and chuckled as he did so. "See if you can handle this!" Ryoga threw the bandanas at Ranma as if they were boomerangs. Realizing a mere kick would send these items on much more dangerously random courses than the umbrella, Ranma ducked down and prepared to snatch each one out of the air. He caught the first one but to his dismay, Ranma saw as Ryoga was taking advantage of the distraction to run straight at him. Ranma grimaced and dodged as best he could. Rolling out of the way, Ranma barely dodged the punch as the remaining two bandanas and Ryoga's fist sailed into the dojo wall. Soun grimaced slightly.
"Hey, I said you could use the dojo! Don't destroy it!" Soun yelled desperately.
"Oh poor father!" Kasumi replied. Meanwhile, Akane studied the fight intently. She had seen incredibly fast movement but couldn't see clearly what had occurred and was curious as to just what it was she saw. Something had definitely passed between Ryoga and Ranma during the latter's dodge.
"Ok, so you got my attention." Ranma addressed Ryoga. "But this doesn't mean you've got the upper hand."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoga asked, pulling his fist out of the wall. "I would have had you if your dodge was just a second later!"
"Yeah, but that's not what I'm talking about. Look up dummy!" Ranma announced. Ryoga obeyed and watched as a yellow bandana came sailing straight down at him. Ryoga grimaced and tried to dodge but the bandana sailed straight past his shoulder and sliced into him a bit before landing into the floor. Grabbing at his shoulder, he faced Ranma and gritted his teeth.
"I didn't even see you throw it!" Ryoga declared.
"That's because I didn't!" Ranma answered back. "See?" Ranma held up the bandana he'd caught in his hand and tossed it aside.
"Then what was that?!" Ryoga asked. Confused and angry, Ryoga let go of his shoulder as the pain of the wound finally let up.
"My foot." Ranma answered.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ryoga asked.
"You see, where your bandanas used to be, they're all now in the roof... except the one that fell and hit your shoulder and the one I caught." The entirety of people there looked up and Soun gasped as they all saw a multitude of bandanas stuck into the roof of the dojo.
"My dojo!" Soun cried.
"How the heck did you do that, Ranma?" Akane called out.
"Like I said, I kicked it with my foot." Ranma replied confidently. So that's what she'd seen! Ranma had kicked at the side of Ryoga's head and launched those bandanas into the roof! Akane clenched fist and smiled. She definitely had to ask Ranma to train her so she could learn some of his speed! Suddenly, she heard a grunt and looked towards the sound. Genma was at the umbrella from earlier and seemed to be having difficulty with picking it up.
"Uncle Saotome, what is it?" Akane asked and walked over to him.
"This umbrella..." he grunted, "weighs a ton!"
"Here let me try!" Genma gladly let her attempt and though she lifted it up slightly more than Genma had, she still grunted with difficulty. A shocked look played on her face and she gulped. If Ryoga was waving this around with one hand, he must have incredible strength! "Ranma, watch out!" Akane called out. "He's really strong!"
Ryoga, meanwhile, was still seething. "You may have kicked away my bandanas and my umbrella away but that doesn't mean I'm finished."
"Why? You got more tricks up your sleeves?" Ranma asked, eyes lowered in disinterest.
"Fight me Saotome!" Ryoga launched an attack and the two of them fought hand to hand for a bit. Suddenly, a pitter patter sound started and Akane looked up. It seemed it had started to rain outside.
'I hope water doesn't seep in here.' Akane thought anxiously. 'Ranma doesn't need that in the middle of such a close battle!' The sound of something clinking brought Akane's attention back to the fight before her. She saw Ryoga clasp a cuff around his left arm and snicker. He'd cuffed Ranma and himself together so that they couldn't move more than ten feet away from each other!
"There!" Ryoga announced. "Now you can't run away like before!"
"Run away?" Ranma sputtered. "Are you talking about our 'fight' at school? Look, you got knocked out by your own umbrella and I went home. I didn't run away from any fight, you lost your ability to continue!"
"Just fight!" Ryoga screamed and continued his barrage of punches. Akane took to her feet and began biting her nails. She knew this was important, she was a part of the martial arts herself. If anyone challenged the dojo, then she had just as much right as Ranma to defend it. But, something was different now. Akane realized quickly the reason for her emotions. She'd always known that she wanted to marry someday and loved romantic movies. But there wasn't a movie she'd seen yet that really portrayed how connected a couple becomes to each other. They did love an injustice as all emotions, not just happiness were involved.
'If ever a movie is made of Ranma, it will have to include the fact that we want to protect each other.' Akane thought.
Meanwhile, Ranma was forced to throw punches and kicks of his own due to the change in his range of motion. Ryoga was good; in fact, Ranma realized that they were pretty evenly matched. Just two months ago, he'd have hated having to ever admit just a fact. Thanks to Akane, he was able to just focus on the task ahead of him. Ranma's ego still existed but he was able now to just ignore it if not affronted by these facts by an ego just as large. Unfortunately for Ryoga, he owned that large ego.
"Ranma, I can't believe you. I thought you'd at least be a challenge. To find we're evenly matched..." Ryoga never finished the statement as he realized Ranma started to fume.
"What did you say now?" Ranma demanded. Ryoga didn't expect to see an ego like his own but quickly started wishing he had paid more attention. His battle aura flickering like fire ablaze across a forest, Ranma clenched his fists. Akane knew how angry she could get but had never seen an ego cause the same emotions(besides Kuno, of course). Maybe the both of them could work together on their emotions as well as skill in battle? "I don't think so!" Ranma yelled. Ryoga barely had time to react and defend himself as Ranma's punch sent him flying through the dojo wall.
"My poor dojo!" Soun Tendo cried in anguish and fainted.
"Father!" Kasumi cried. As the rest of the family attended to Soun, Ranma leapt through the hole in the wall to find Ryoga.
"Ah man, why's it have to be raining?" Ranma complained. The change quickly took effect and Ranma set her mind back to the task at hand. "Where'd 'ya go, stupid jerk? You can't be too far with that cuff attached to your..." Ranma faltered as she saw a pile of clothing and a disconnected cuff lying five feet ahead of her. Ranma walked over to the heap and studied it. "That's odd, why'd he shed his clothing." As Ranma tried to decipher Ryoga's intentions, she suddenly went wide eyed and a familiar yet unnerving thought came to Ranma's mind. "Oh no! Ryoga, you didn't?"
"He didn't do what, Ranma?" Akane asked, having soon followed Ranma through the hole in the wall. Freaking out, Ranma quickly kicked the clothing into a bush and picked up the other side of the cuffs.
"Guess the fool didn't want to fight me any more!" Ranma lied. "See? He undid his cuffs!"
"Oh, I see." Akane acknowledged. "I guess this means we won't be seeing from him for a while."
'Much sooner than you think, Akane.' Ranma corrected to herself.
With the excuse of trying to find her "cowardly" opponent, Ranma still searched the streets in the Tendo's neighborhood a half an hour later. She still couldn't find heads or tails of Ryoga and was beginning to think maybe Akane was right. Ranma slumped against a wall to catch a breather and escape the rain for a minute.
"Oh Ryoga. I know you wanted to find me and pay me back for the stupid bread." Ranma sympathized aloud. "But you didn't have to follow me everywhere. You didn't have to follow me to China!" Ranma put a hand to her forehead. There was no other explanation for it in Ranma's mind. Ryoga had said he'd been searching for Ranma for so many months. And with a pile of clothing left behind in the cold rain, the only explanation was that Ryoga had followed Ranma everywhere...
...including to Jusenkyou!
"That poor slob!" Ranma cried into the rain. "I promise Ryoga, things'll be different when you come back. I know how hard it is to be cursed." Just then, Ranma heard a growling behind her and turned around to see a dog in the rain. Could this be Ryoga's cursed form? Ranma nodded her head; it had to be, just look at those eyes! It was too much of a dead give away. "Just stay calm, Ryoga. I can help you but we gotta stop fighting first!" Ranma told Ryoga the dog. He suddenly changed his demeanor and looked at Ranma as if worried. "Don't worry, Ryoga, I'm not going to hurt you. We just need to get you cleaned up. Thankfully, your clothes are still back at the house." Ryoga the dog started panting with joy and barked a happy yelp.
Meanwhile, Akane had finished a bath (having gotten wet herself from the rain) and sat down on her bed. Watching Ranma battle was just too much for her but she knew she needed to find a way to be ok with it, otherwise their lives together would never work out. Realizing she'd thought about living a long life together with Ranma, Akane blushed and put a hand to her mouth. Her embarrassment faded as she heard something bump around her vanity.
"What the?!" Akane, startled, looked around the floor but found nothing. 'Something's in my room.' she noted. Another noise, this time coming from the closet, drew her attention and Akane whipped her head around to see something black rush across the floor to hide under her bed. "Hey you, get back here!" Akane shouted. She went to peer under her bed but as she knelt down to do so, her danger sense went off and threw a punch behind her. Akane's fist connected with something and she turned around to find a little, black piglet roll across her floor and into her dresser. It shook its head and faced Akane with fear, growling at Akane. "Come here little piggy! I'm sorry! It thought you were more dangerous! I won't hurt you!" Akane tried to coax the piglet over too her. Slowly but surely, it did and finally let Akane touch it again. "Can I hold you?" Akane asked and picked up the pig. It started shaking in her hands. "You came from outside, didn't you? You're cold from the rain!"
Ranma walked into the living room and sat down with a towel to dry off the dog standing next to her. Ryoga the dog gave a little yelp as she dried him off and looked at Ranma happily. "You would never guess we'd been fighting thirty minutes ago, huh?" Ranma spoke to the dog before her. "Look Ryoga, I understand your troubles but you can't just come barging into the house. Even if Mr. Tendo is ok with your challenge, I'm a guest here." Ranma stared at the dog Ryoga had become. 'So strange how every cursed form looks a little like their original selves.' Ranma observed to herself.
"Ranma, whose dog is that?" Akane interrupted Ranma's thoughts. Ranma jumped hearing Akane's voice and turned to see her walking in.
"Oh, I just found him when I was out. The poor mutt was freezing in the rain so I thought I'd give it a place to stay for the night." Ranma lied. She turned back to Ryoga. 'I'll keep your secret, Ryoga. It's the warriors code, right?' The dog before Ranma seemed to just stare right back as if uncertain to what was going on.
"I'm sure I've seen that dog before, Ranma." Akane explained. "Where'd you find him?"
"This dog? Around the neighborhood while searching for that... for Ryoga." Ranma had been about to insult Ryoga but felt ashamed after thinking about what Ryoga'd been through. Again, she knew what a curse was like to deal with.
"Of course!" Akane realized, interrupting Ranma's musings. "That's the Yamada's dog! I knew I'd seen her before! Here Bess!" Akane called to the dog and the animal responded with a happy bark.
"Wait, this is a female dog?" Ranma stuttered.
"Of course she is, didn't you notice?" Akane asked. Ranma looked at the dog's underside and realized it was true.
"And here I thought... oh well." Ranma sat down and pondered. 'I wonder where Ryoga is right now.' A sneeze caught her attention and turning, Ranma noticed the animal in Akane's arms. "What's that?"
"Oh, this is P – chan!" Akane announced. "He's a little pig I found in my room a few minutes ago." The pig in question started squealing at seeing Ranma. Akane held it closer. "Don't worry, P – chan. Be a good little piggy and quiet down." Holding the piglet closer to her, the pig started blushing.
"What a dirty little pig! You held him closer to your chest and it starts blushing!" Ranma declared.
"Oh don't get jealous over a pig, Ranma!" Akane chastised.
"Just what does P – chan stand for anyway?" Ranma asked.
"P as in pig and chan as in cute! P – chan!" Akane held P – chan out to Ranma. "You're gonna go take a bath to change and warm up from the rain, right? Would you take P – chan with you?"
"Take a bath with a pig?" Ranma asked incredulously. As if to agree, P – chan started squirming and squealing again. "I guess." Ranma took a hold of P – chan but merely took him by the strange bandana he wore. Walking down the hallway towards the bath, Ranma held P – chan up to look at him. "Just what is your problem, anyway? I ain't done nothing to 'ya!"
Minutes later, Ranma stripped out of her wet clothes while holding the still struggling P – chan with a foot. He tried to get free but Ranma merely put pressure back on him with her foot. Grabbing the bandana again, Ranma opened the way to the bathtub and started the water. "You know, you little runt, the way you're acting I'd say someone tried to hurt you." The tub was full and Ranma turned the water off and prepared to dump P – chan in. The sudden presence of the water caught the pig's attention and instead of trying to hurt Ranma, P – chan merely struggled to not have to get into the water. "Oh come on, pig, a little bath ain't gonna hurt. In 'ya go!" Ranma announced and dunked the pig underwater. A second later, Ranma felt as if something were going on underwater and suddenly, a huge splash came rocketing from beneath the water's surface. As the water settled, Ranma realized she was holding onto the back of someone's head. Letting go, Ranma gasped as Ryoga turned around and growled at her. "Ry... Ryoga?!" Ranma observed.
"Ranma, be sure to wash him all over! Especially behind the ears!" Akane called from the changing room.
"Uh.. sure." Ranma answered back. She turned her head to face the angry Ryoga again. "So then, you're the, uh, pig?" Ranma asked.
"Ranma, you're dead!" Ryoga threw a punch and Ranma blocked it with a bucket.
"Hey come on now, I didn't do anything!" Ranma explained.
"Oh no? If you hadn't skipped out on our fight, I never would have had to chase you to China!" Ryoga argued.
"Does this mean you really did go to Jusenkyou?" Ranma asked.
"I've endured hells of all sorts, thanks to you!" Ryoga spit bitterly. "I had to cross the whole of China on foot and it was arduous. Then one fateful day, I was standing on a cliff overlooking some strange spot with poles and pools. I couldn't tell if you'd been there but thought I'd ask the guide I saw in the distance, walking to some house. I never got a chance to try that because a second later, some crazy girl and a panda came tearing out of the forest behind me. I turned around just in time to see them and managed to jump out of the panda's way but unfortunately, the girl had made an effort to strike the panda with her foot. Being in her way, the crazy girl struck me instead and knocked me into one of the pools below." Ryoga closed his eyes and clenched a fist. "As I tried to swim to the surface, I felt a strange transformation taking place and when I reached the surface... I realized I'd been cast into hell! Being a girl is heaven compared to being a pig!"
"Oh yeah? How so?" Ranma countered.
"Because you never get mistaken for lunch!" Ryoga spat back. "After I struggled to get to that cursed pool's end, that same panda picked me up and took me to the house of the guide. There, the guide told some story about a spring at Jusenkyou called some crazy Chinese name and said that it was really the spring of drowned piglet. Whoever fell into that spring would take on the body of a black piglet. As if knowing my curse wasn't enough, then the two of them tried to cook me for dinner! And if it hadn't been for the fact that they dropped me in hot water, I'd have been eaten for sure!"
"Oh Ryoga, that's terrible!" Ranma sympathized. Ryoga got angrier seeing Ranma feeling sorry.
"Don't you dare try to get out of our battle by suddenly pretending to feel sorry for me!" Ryoga shouted.
"Hey, keep it down!" Ranma warned him. "And why wouldn't I feel sorry for you? You're right to say I haven't ever had to suffer being eaten as a girl. But I've faced troubles of my own!"
"Don't you dare try to compare the two! It's your fault I'm even stuck like this!" Ryoga tried another punch and Ranma countered.
"Come on, don't blame me Ryoga!" Ranma argued. "Didn't you say it was some crazy girl who knocked you into the spring and a panda that tried to eat you?"
"So?" Ryoga asked incredulously.
"So how could it be me? I'm a guy!" Ranma countered.
"It doesn't matter!" Ryoga splashed some water out in frustration. "You skipped out on..." A noise of the bathroom door opening caught their attention. Genma stood there and was looking like he was about to talk when the water Ryoga had splashed hit him straight in the face. During the time it took to travel, it had turned cold enough to trigger Genma's transformation. Genma the panda stood there for a second, then sighed and turned around to wait his turn. Ryoga's brain started churning and an epiphany started forming. "A panda?" he stuttered, realizing Genma also had a Jusenkyou curse. He turned to look at Ranma. "And a... girl?" Ranma suddenly realized it truly was her fault about Ryoga's curse and started trying to look cute to change Ryoga's anger.
"Heh heh!" she giggled. "Just a little accident?"
"I see now, it really was you!" Ryoga threw a third punch.
"Ah come on now, Ryoga. I said I was sorry!" Ranma pleaded. "My pop and I were still dealing with the fact that we'd been cursed too! I just wanted to knock him around."
"You knocked me!" Ryoga shouted.
"Hey Ranma, you done in there yet? Your dad wanted to take a bath too and I said it was okay but he just lumbered out without a word." Akane called out again from the changing room.
"Just finishing up on the little guy!" Ranma lied.
"I'm coming in." Akane announced. Ryoga's face went white and he ducked down a little.
"What am I going to do?" Ryoga whimpered.
"Change back, you idiot!" Ranma told him. Ryoga nodded his head and grabbed the shower head to to spray himself with cold water. The head fell out of his hands and P – chan skidded across the floor as Akane stepped in.
"I see he's done!" Akane reached out to grab P – chan.
"Where are you going?" Ranma asked.
"We're going to bed." Akane answered.
"With... the pig?!" Ranma sputtered.
"Yes." Akane stared at Ranma's emotions. "Don't tell me your jealous? We're fiances, remember?"
"Yeah but that's not..." Ranma began.
"But nothing Ranma, just finish your bath." And with that, Akane walked out and closed the door behind her. Little did she know that the pig she held was not any ordinary animal. And Ranma had all the right in the world to be jealous of it.
"Sleeping in Akane's bed?!" Ranma shouted. "Now you've done it, Ryoga!"
End Chapter 9
DISCLAIMER NOTICE
The preceding story contains characters and elements from the anime/manga Ranma 1/2. The these characters and elements belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., and Kitty Films. None of these were used to plagiarize from the broadcasters Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., and/or Kitty Films. Rather, this story was intended for entertainment purposes only, not commercial or for profit. In the same way, this story's depiction of the plot elements or characters from Ranma 1/2 are an expression of the author and are not meant in any fashion to be a depiction of the canon that is Ranma 1/2. All original characters depicted in this story not a part of the original Ranma 1/2 canon are Copyright 2013 by the author.
