Amor Fati

Notes: I guess I should preface this chapter with a couple of notes. First, I'd like to note that though I love Gundam almost as much as I love Ranma ½, I am not above poking fun at it. And hey, the two shows have some contemporaneity, so let's have some of the Ranma crew watch some Gundam. The jokes practically write themselves!

As for the inevitable shipping wars, and how I'm increasingly treading into that territory: the thing is that I like all of the big pairings in their own way. I think Ranma/Ryoga is adorable, but I also love the Ranma/Akane romance. But as much as I love seeing two tsundere's colliding, I still have a hard time choosing between it and Ranma/Ukyo. Or Akane/Ryoga, for that matter. And sometimes, I even love a good Ranma/Shampoo fic.

As for this fic, the only obviously confirmed pairing is boyRanma/Akane. It's likely to stay that way because I'm a giant tease, and I want to play with all the pairings. That being said, there's a lot of Ranma/Ryoga in this chapter.

Chapter 10: Stupid Sexy Ryoga

Kasumi had just started preparing lunch when she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, I wonder who that could be," she said quietly. She hummed a merry little tune as she went for the door. She found the male Ranma waiting, his hands nervously twiddling.

"Yo, Kasumi. Long time no see!"

He seemed pent-up, almost awkward, as he stood there, like he had spent the morning breaking in a new pair of shoes. Kasumi raised an eyebrow, muttering "interesting," under her breath, but otherwise remained demure. "Oh Ranma, you needn't be so formal. You know you're always welcome here. Why don't you come in and I'll pour you some tea."

"Gee, thanks Kasumi. Um, so would you happen to know what Akane is up to?"

Ooh, an unplanned visit. Kasumi wondered what the two lovebirds would be up to today. And while she didn't entirely approve of the course their courtship had taken, she was still glad that they weren't caught in complete denial about their feelings. While she was quite conservative about such things, she liked to think she had the practical wisdom to know when to bend the rules.

"Oh, she's upstairs. Painting her nails I believe. I can go let her know you're here if you'd like."

"Nah, I'd rather surprise her. Unless well, the other is here."

Kasumi stopped in her tracks. Her nose wrinkled as she wondered what the boy meant by this, but she didn't want to dig any further. Still, it seemed so wrong for those two to be so estranged from each other.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," he said, waving his hands defensively, "It's just that I'm the last guy she's gonna wanna see right now. I don't wanna get up in her face, especially if she's trying to spend some time with Akane."

"That's mighty considerate of you," Nabiki chimed in as she strutted through the kitchen.

"How long have you been listening?" said Ranma.

"Oh, long enough. I guess I'm proud of you. Maybe all that time as a girl made you learn some sensitivity."

"Hey, you cut that out!"

"I mean it. You can be dumber than a second coat of paint at times, but your heart seems to be in the right place now. You don't want to run in and brazenly take Akane away from Ran-chan. Well, not any more than you already have."

"You make it sound like I've been scheming this," he growled.

"He has a point, sister-dear," said Kasumi, "I don't think you're being very fair to him." Even though she gave her chastisement of Nabiki her undivided attention, Kasumi still managed to pour Ranma's tea without spilling a drop. Nabiki found her sister's knack for this somewhat disturbing. "Anyway, girl-Ranma is out seeing a movie with Hiroshi and Daisuke, and I think they were going to spend the day downtown afterwards."

That all too familiar little black piggy came sauntering into the room, dragging his pack across the tatami mats. He oinked loudly as he struggled to drag the pack along. "Hold on a minute Ryoga-dear, I'll get the hot water," Kasumi giggled.

Ryoga oinked in protest, but Kasumi was inexorable. Soon, a stream of steaming hot water was poured on him, and a very naked Ryoga was left sitting by the Kotatsu.

For a second, Ranma thought he saw a devious smirk on Kasumi's face, but it was soon hidden by her normal joyous nonchalance. "Oh my, forgetful me," Kasumi playfully scolded herself. She mimed slapping herself on the wrist.

Ryoga, already red with embarrassment, jumped to his feet to protest. Steam wafted from his glistening muscles. As he stood there, the very image of Adonis, Ranma found himself having an involuntary gasp. The more he tried to ignore Ryoga, the more Ryoga's well-cut muscles and firmly toned behind wormed its way into his mind's eye. He'd always blamed it on the curse before. He tried to pretend that this was just a lingering after effect, but it seemed like a lie.

Nabiki enjoyed the show, but not so much to not notice Ranma's quiet gasp or faint blushing. "Intriguing," she said to herself.

In a panic, Ryoga reached for Kasumi's tea kettle so he'd at least have something to cover his nakedness. But when he heard the tea kettle clang on the floor, he realized he'd snatched the wrong thing.

"Oh my, that's very forward of your Ryoga," Kasumi stated matter-of-factly, "I didn't know you felt that way about me. I'm very flattered, but I'm going to need my hand back."

"What a tease," said Nabiki. "I didn't know you had it in you, Sis."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nabiki."

"Sure you don't. Let's get poor Ryoga dressed before he dies of embarrassment. Ranma-baby, I think you're drooling."

They left the darkened movie theater to face a flood of noonday sunlight. Ran-chan squinted while her eyes adjusted, mulling over her lingering questions. The more she puzzled over the plot, the less it seemed to make sense. As some color started to return to the washed out world, she resolved to just give in and ask Hiroshi or Daisuke. After all, they'd been waiting patiently to see this film for months.

"That was great!" said Hiroshi. He idly stretched the muscles of his arms and torsos as they left the theater. Ran-chan found herself seized by an urge to stretch as well. Sitting idly for two hours just wasn't in her nature.

"I'll say," said Daisuke, "It was sad to see an end to such a beautiful rivalry, but I think they left on a high note."

"I don't think it made any sense," Ran-chan piped in.

"Ehh?" they both exclaimed.

Ran-chan talked excitedly, emphasizing her points with sweeping gesture, "None of it made sense. Char's rivalry with Amuro, his ambitions, his plan. It all seemed senseless."

"How can you say that, Ranma? You haven't seen any of Gundam before this movie," said Daisuke.

"Plus, we already explained their history," added Hiroshi, "They've always been destined for this. Their ideals were always so against one another. Plus, there's Lalah Sune."

They loved talking down to her when it came to their hobbies. It reminded her of how competitive she could get about issues related to martial arts. It seemed very clear that in spite of their eagerness to share their hobbies with her, they still regarded her as an outsider. Was she just supposed to take this on faith from huge fans of the show like them? She still had questions: "Then how come they were friends for a while, both fighting those space Nazis?"

Daisuke asked, "Which ones, the Zeon or the Titans?"

"I think she means the Titans," Hiroshi guessed.

"Yeah, those are the ones! Didn't those Titans have like the same plan as Char in this movie?"

"That was different," Daisuke cried. "Like I told ya, the Titans wanted to rule over the spacenoids, and they destroyed colonies when people resisted."

"Oh yeah?" Ran-chan said with a huff, "How is that any different than what Char did when people didn't want to go along with this plans? He was going to destroy the Earth. And don't give me that 'souls weighed down by gravity' phooey."

Daisuke growled. He was getting seriously indignant, especially about Ran-chan not liking such tragically noble hero like Char. The nerve! How could she not see it?

Hiroshi's cooler head prevailed. He never really saw eye to eye with Daisuke's serious fanboying for Char Aznable. "Oh look, an ice cream stand," he said with as much excitement as he could muster. Truth be told, he was still stuffed from when Ran-chan had insisted they get lunch before the movie, and from the popcorn she'd gotten during it.

But the play worked, and in a heartbeat Ran-chan's thoughts went from arguing to getting an ice cream sundae. "Hey, let's get ice cream!" she squealed like an excited little kid. It became pretty clear she wouldn't take no for an answer, taking both by the hand and dragging them over to the ice cream stand.

The middle aged man at the counter's face wrinkled up in mild distaste. But he liked to think of himself as a man of business, not a moral guardian. "Well, we don't often see one girl dating two boys, but I suppose I could still give you our two-for-one couple's sundae special."

Hiroshi tried to explain, "Actually we're—"

Ran-chan elbowed him in the gut, drowning his protests out with a coughing fit, "Gee thanks mister!" she squealed, "Two best friends both confessed to me, and I just couldn't bear to see them pitted against each other. I like them both, and I couldn't bear to ruin their friendship." She gave both of the boys a peck on the check to sell the story.

Her surreptitious glare at Daisuke was more than enough to convince him to play along. While the clerk busily prepared their sundaes, Daisuke whispered, "Is there no length you won't go to get free food?"

That sounded like a challenge. Ran-chan waited until the shopkeeper had his attention turned back to them. Then she gave Daisuke a quick kiss on the lips.

Daisuke sat their stunned, his fingers trembling on his lips. While Daisuke rebooted, Hiroshi started to protest. But he caught a glimpse of the menu and the listed prices for ice cream at this bustling downtown shop. "—Actually, that's a really good deal. Kiss away, Saotome."

When she was sure Daisuke was back in the real world, Ran-chan whispered, "Does that answer your question?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the shops in the area. Their first stop was a comics store, which they browsed at Daisuke's request. Ran-chan found quite bored. While Daisuke was enraptured, and Hiroshi seemed at least mildly interested, Ran-chan was never really into manga. She'd read a few issues here and there, but she didn't really follow anything. Her life was always too chaotic for such pastimes. At least some of the art looked pretty cool. She looked at the well-illustrated covers while she batted away the ham-fisted attempts by the shop's regulars to hit on her or impress her with the recall of minutia she really couldn't care less about.

After about half an hour, Daisuke took her by the hand and lead her into the back corner of the shop.

"Oy, what's the big idea, bub?" she said.

"Trust me, this is gonna be great. The clerk was distracted, so I figured we'd sneak back into the pervert's section."

Boobs: the word kept running through Ran-chan's head. Sure, they'd lost a bit of their glamour when she'd acquired a pair of her own, but they remained alluring. But back in this secluded back corner, she was positively assaulted by pictures of them. It was almost too much, breaking the rules and sneaking around like this. They were all blushing profusely, and she wondered what demon had possessed Daisuke to bring them back here.

It smelled musty back here. Ran-chan idly wondered why. Curiosity soon got the better of her, and she picked up an issue that particularly caught her eye. The woman on the front looked a bit like Akane, and that drew her to the comic like forbidden fruit. She thumbed through it, only to discover that some of the pages were sticking together.

Ick, ick, ick! Whatever arousal she was feeling was driven down by the revulsion, and now she wanted to leave. "Guys, we should go," she whispered.

"Don't wimp out on me now, Ranma," said Daisuke.

Hiroshi shuddered when he saw the sticky film coating some of the pages. "No, I'm with Ranma on this one, Dai," he said, tugging on his shirt collar uncomfortably. "There's got to be a better way…" He trailed off, as though his mouth were unwilling to say what his brain was thinking.

They left after fifteen minutes. Ran-chan spend those moments torn between discomfort and arousal. Some of the erotic art was even tasteful, and the depictions of two women in intimate embrace thrilled her, but the seedy atmosphere ruined the experience.

As they left the shop, Hiroshi and Daisuke worked very hard to hide the tents in their trousers. Both seemed embarrassed by the whole experience, and for several minutes no one spoke as they walked aimlessly. It seemed impossible to think of the pair like she had before. Sure, they'd begged Ranma to be introduced to the pig-tailed girl, and gushed about how attractive they thought she was before they knew that she was just Ranma's girl mode. But she hadn't quite been confronted with the notion of her friends being sexual creatures before today.

They had tried, and failed, to hide the lust they still felt for her body. They had tried to compensate by doubling down on treating Ran-chan like just another one of the guys. It seemed to have backfired on them. Still, she wasn't upset with them, even if there was a growing sense of awkwardness. They couldn't control how they felt any more than she could, and they'd tried their best.

Almost on autopilot, she left the busy sidewalk, turning onto a dirt path that led into a small, densely wooded park. Hiroshi and Daisuke followed silently. As the sound of traffic slowly faded into the background, Ran-chan breathed a small sigh of relief. This would at least give some privacy, because there was a lot she wanted to talk about.

She led them into a thicket off the beaten path before turning around abruptly to face them, thrusting her hands into her skirt pockets. She hoped she didn't seem too upset. She still had to get this off her chest. "That was weird, guys," she sputtered.

"Perverted even," Daisuke said solemnly. "Listen Ranma, I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to creep you out."

Hiroshi's eyes flitted around before finally settling at Ran-chan's feet. "We were just trying to treat you like one of the guys."

Daisuke nodded. He looked at her in a way that was somewhere between a hungry man salivating over a home-cooked meal and an artist appraising a well-executed masterpiece.

"But it's hard," Hiroshi continued, "And sometimes you make it harder. You're even dressed sort of like a girl today. Sometimes I look at you, like when you sit down cross-legged, talking like a man, and there's no doubt in my mind that you're still the guy I knew. But then there's times when you play the girl, and you do it so well that I wonder if you're really acting. It's confusing, and I don't want to be upset with you. But I don't know if we can keep pretending you're just one of the guys."

Ran-chan could sense the unspoken confession. Desire, not just base and animalistic yearning, but also affection. This wasn't at all new to her. Shampoo and Ukyo had similar feelings towards her. Whereas they had been absolutely shameless in both word and deed, Hiroshi and Daisuke's crush on her was a guilty one, and they didn't want to talk about it.

"I guess we just wish things could go back to the way they were before," Daisuke muttered. He slumped against a tree and sighed heavily. The emotional roller-coaster of the day had worn him down to the nub.

Hiroshi nodded in agreement. Everyone stared uneasily, afraid that anything that might be said could be just too much. Hiroshi finally broke the silence. "It was simpler when you could change back or weren't dressing half way like a girl."

For once, Ran-chan fought back the urge to blurt out immediately. She silently counted to ten. Though she galled at being told how much simpler things were before her life got turned upside down, she bit her tongue. "Here's the thing guys, I didn't change. Not in here." She placed a hand over her heart. "What I want to do and who I want to be hasn't changed. I'm just fighting to feel less shame about things. The truth is my girl half is as much a part of me as my boy half. And I didn't really appreciate that until I lost it. Some days I wake up, and I feel like I'm half what I used to be. That feeling won't get any better by feeling sorry for myself, and hating my girl half. Do you feel me?"

They at least nodded in affirmation. She doubted they fully understood what she was trying to get at it, but it was a start. They still had that look of shame in their eyes.

She swallowed hard, summoning up her courage. She hated to go into the minefield of attraction again, but it had to be done. "Listen guys, I know that you've got a bit of a crush on me."

"What, no!" Daisuke denied a bit too forcefully.

"Shush," she scolded, "I know that you feel guilty about it, because you don't want to disrespect me, or have it come between our friendship, and you probably think it is a little bit gay to have a thing for a girl who used to be a dude."

Hiroshi cringed slightly. "Gay is a bit too strong of a word," he said defensively.

She rolled her eyes. This would be so much easier if they stopped interrupting. "Yo, all I'm trying to say is that I don't hate you for it. Just don't beat yourself up about it. Compared to most of the people I've had chasing me, you guys have been paragons of virtue."

For a brief moment, she thought about what it would be like to date Hiroshi or Daisuke. To her surprise, the thought wasn't immediately revolting. The idea of dating a guy still seemed strange, but it no longer seemed like a betrayal of her masculinity. The bigger issue in her mind was that she'd have to pick one of them, and even if she were so inclined, that would certain put a strain on their friendship.

The three quickly agreed to leave the matter at that. After all, there still was a whole afternoon that could be spent having fun. Hiroshi and Daisuke at least seemed like they were feeling less uneasy in Ran-chan's presence.

Ranma and Ryoga had chosen to deal with their frustrations the best way they knew how: by beating the living daylights out of each other. Still something seemed amiss in their contest. For a moment, Ranma thought he would lose himself in the match, and leave all of his baggage behind him.

But it just wasn't working. Ryoga was fighting as skilled as ever. Hell, he was more disciplined than normal, conserving his energy, and keeping his attacks focused and tight. But the passion seemed to be missing. Ranma tried to provoke a bit more out of him, amping up the aggression level. He took more calculated risks, increasing the speed of his attacks, and no longer taking the time to disengage from the melee and reassess.

The strategy worked at first. Ranma landed a few solid blows on Ryoga's chin and collar. But it didn't get Ryoga's dander up. For a second, Ranma thought about taunting him about Akane. No, that would be too low, even for me, he scolded himself. Great, now he couldn't stop thinking about Ryoga's impressive physique, or the rugged handsome look he was growing in to.

"What was that Ranma?" Genma taunted from the sidelines, "An exhibition? You need emotional content!"

"Believe me Pops, that is the last thing I need right now."

They stopped at an electronics store at Hiroshi's insistence. He had said that he wanted to pick up some parts for the radio he was working on. Naturally, this is why he spent most of his time ogling the fancy new gizmos and gadgets in the shop.

Ran-chan felt more than a little lost. She wasn't sure what half the stuff in the store did, and the rest she wasn't really interested in. Sure, the shiny new tvs were nice, but she didn't exactly spend a lot of time loafing around in front of one anyway. But they had a karaoke machine set up for demo, and that seemed interesting so she played around with it.

A very cheerful and perky attendant quickly rushed to her. The woman's uniform was immaculate; she must have ironed it this morning, and she clearly was putting in 110 percent in this job. "Hi there miss, is there anything I can help you out with?" she beamed.

"Uh well," Ran-chan stuttered. The clerk had moved in for the kill in a flash. Had this been an opponent, Ran-chan would have been caught flat-footed and might even be in some serious trouble. She wondered if the woman had any martial arts training as the relentless customer service assault began. "Well, I'm just looking around really. I'm actually here with someone else, he's going to be picking up some—"

The clerk didn't take no for an answer. "Oh I don't mind," she said all too cheerfully, "You can call me Ibuki, miss?"

"Um, Ranma."

"Nice ta meetcha, Umranma!"

"Actually, Ibuki-san, it's just Ranma."

"Just Ibuki, please. And I never miss an opportunity for a good joke. I hope a beautiful young lady like yourself won't feel self-conscious."

Is she hitting on me? Ran-chan wondered. She really couldn't tell whether Ibuki was naturally this "warmly aggressive." She'd been instructed, in several of the odd-jobs she'd worked chasing some hare-brained scheme, to be "warmly aggressive" in dealing with customers. She didn't know what that meant until now.

"Anyway, Ranma, I couldn't help but notice as you were playing with this demo unit that you have a lovely singing voice."

Definitely hitting on me, Ran-chan concluded. Thought it wasn't exactly unwelcome. Ibuki was a tall, leggy blonde; definitely easy on the eyes, and she had the same exuberance that had always attracted the redhead to Akane.

To Ran-chan's surprise, the compliment made her feel a bit warm and fuzzy. Maybe she was finally getting to the point where she didn't feel guilty about girls other than Akane. "Well, thanks I guess. This seems like some good equipment, though I really wouldn't know about that."

"Actually, this thing is a piece of shit. It doesn't do you any justice. What you really need, dear, is a karaoke unit like this one." Ibuki gave a hefty smack to a large amplifier stack to punctuate her sentence. "This baby here is what you want. She's got high quality vacuum tubes, a full effects set complete with pedals, and of course, the best selection of hit songs you could ask for!"

Okay, maybe it was just a sales pitch. Ran-chan didn't know how much more of this see-sawing back and forth she could take.

Suddenly Ibuki was uncomfortably close. She'd wrapped her arm around Ran-chan's shoulders, pulling the martial artist's body next to hers. She swept her other arm, pointing out into the distance. "Instead of a rack of flashlights, imagine that's the Budokan amphitheater. And it's filled with your adoring fans."

Ran-chan tried her best, she really did. She just couldn't help but envisioning an entire stadium filled to rafters with clones of Tatewaki Kuno. An involuntary shudder rippled down her body at the thought.

"You're gonna want to have the best equipment to bring out the best in a voice like yours. And this one, as you can see, is quite special. So that your adoring fans can hear you in the back, the volume knob on this ace custom goes all the way up to eleven!"

Ran-chan had no idea what that meant, but it sounded cool.

The boisterous blonde was inching closer. She was almost whispering now, her voice low and smoky, breath ticking at Ran-chan's ear. "Or maybe you just want to sing something intimate for that special someone."

It was too much. She couldn't stand another round of this yo-yoing. She looked Ibuki right in the eye, giving her best saucy grin. "Are you trying to sell me a karaoke machine, or are you trying to ask me out on a date."

The blonde was briefly taken aback by Ran-chan's boldness. At the very least, Ibuki had stepped out of her personal space. Ibuki said, mildly flustered, "Well, I admit I was coming on a little strong, but you are really cute. And well, to hell with it. I'm not free tonight, but tomorrow is great. I get off at seven. If you're up for it, I might be getting off again later." She gave Ranma a quick peck on the cheek. "Ta-ta for now, Ranma. I look forward to seeing you again."

Ran-chan stood in silence for a moment, stroking at her chin pensively. After concluding that this strange encounter did actually happen and wasn't some hallucination, she decided to go find Hiroshi and Daisuke.

She found them salivating over some brand new Laserdisc players.

Daisuke noticed her first. "Hey Ranma, see anything cool in here?"

She slouched against a display case full of Laserdics. "I think I may have sort of accidentally kind of asked the girl who works here out on a date."

"Just another day in the life of Saotome Ranma, right?" Daisuke teased.

"The foreign looking genki girl with the nice…assets?" Hiroshi asked.

Ran-chan nodded.

Daisuke tried not to leer, but he lacked a certain level of grace. So his attempts to be subtle in checking out the perky clerk Ibuki ended up only being more obvious. After his quick appraisal, he nodded approvingly. "You gonna go for it?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I mean, she is kind of cute, and who knows, it could be fun."

"But you're still feeling mopey over Akane rejecting you, right?"

Ran-chan rolled her eyes. "Nice of you to put it so delicately, Daisuke."

"Look, I guess I'm saying you might as well have a good time, Ranma. And Hiro would be saying that too if he wasn't dreaming about finally saving up enough to buy his first Laserdisc player." He glared over at Hiroshi to see if his friend noticed.

"Hey," Hiroshi protested, "I'm getting close. And they're amazing! Each disc can hold half an hour of perfect broadcast quality video!" He held one up in Daisuke and Ran-chan's faces for them to marvel at. It was the Kurosawa classic Sanjuro.

It was a good choice on Hiroshi's part, Ran-chan decided. Any movie with martial arts in it was a good movie in her book. The disc itself was the size of a vinyl LP or a large dinner plate. It came in a protective sleeve just like a vinyl record.

"Pristine video," Hiroshi lectured, "digital sound. A whole movie can fit on just two or three of these discs."

"What a world we live in now," Ranma said, feigning excitement.

Ryoga was lost. After that conga line of constant embarrassment (just another normal day at the Tendo residence, he thought bitterly), why did he have to get himself lost again? Most days, he could make it from the Tendo's to the park he had pitched his tent at fairly reliably. He might miss a few turns, but he'd make the journey in a reasonable amount of time.

But after an hour of walking, his tent was nowhere to be seen. The frustration was quite evident on his face as he walked.

An old man sitting on his porch seemed to take notice of Ryoga's plight. "I'm rooting for you there, sonny!" the old man shouted, "It such a tragedy to be afflicted with hemorrhoids so young. But we'll get through this together. I know the name of a very good doc who can help you out with that."

Okay, maybe he was grimacing a bit too hard. But he couldn't help but have his mind go to dark places. Spending all that time with Ranma and Akane today was…difficult. That was how he told it to himself. It was a word that properly understated how he felt, for he was afraid that if he really let himself stop and dwell on his heartbreak, he'd deflate like a week old balloon.

Ranma and Akane seemed happy together. Sure, they still fought a lot. But they did love each other. He fought back the guilt over all the times he'd tried to break the two of them up. Because Akane seemed to think the world of him, and talk about what a good friend he's been to her.

Somehow, he had to tell her, but he didn't know how. Akane loved her dear pet P-chan. But she also undressed in front of the little piggy, and confessed all of her deepest, darkest secrets to him. After all, what could a little pig do to betray her trust?

Just when it seemed like the shame was getting unbearable, Ryoga heard a familiar voice. "See you later, Hiroshi, Daisuke."

Huh, what's Ranma doing here? he wondered.

Everyone else seemed to treat girl-Ranma and boy-Ranma as separate people. But for Ryoga, they were both just Ranma. Though he did find it more agreeable to hang out with the girl one, he felt similarly to both of them. At times, Ranma annoyed the shit out of Ryoga. His pride was insufferable, and he seemed to get everyone's attention. But Ryoga also had to admit that the bastard deserved most of the attention. In truth, the lost boy had come to respect Ranma immensely. Not that he'd ever admit that.

Ryoga hiked up the straps of his backpack, taking the opportunity to stretch. Might as well go say hi, he figured, and though he'd never ask for help directly, he hoped that Ranma would get the clue and help him find his way home.

She smiled at him when she saw him. She'd dressed half-way feminine today, leaving her normal tangzhaung and slacks behind for a logo t-shirt and a skirt. She jogged over to his side of the street, hurdling over a passing bicyclist. "Hey Ryoga, long time no see," said Ranma.

"Hey Ranma, uh, fancy meeting you here."

There she went with that Cheshire cat grin again. "You're lost again, aintcha?"

"N-no! I'm just taking a stroll here, looking for good places to train."

"Come on now, piggy-wiggy, just admit that you're lost."

"You've got it all wrong Ranma."

"I know you can do it. It takes a big strong man like you to admit when he's wrong." The way she fawned at him, so cute, so girlish, it drove him nuts. She always knew exactly how to get a rise of him, and no matter how much Ryoga tried to remind himself that it was his old friend/rival that was acting so coquettish to him, he just couldn't resist.

Before he knew it, Ranma had him backed into a corner. That devilishly cute menace to society pounced on him, and his feeble defense broke immediately. He found himself on the ground, with Ranma straddling his chest as she pinched and pulled at his cheeks.

"Just give in Ryoga. Say you're lost. Say it!" she taunted.

He fought back as best he could, but with the tears in his eyes and the general shock, he failed to tear away her hands from his face, succeeding only at awkwardly pawing at her chest.

It must have stopped being funny for Ranma, because the instant he blindly grabbed at her, the claw-like grip on his cheeks relaxed. She blushed furiously. "Hey, cut that out!" she cried. Still in fight or flight mode, Ryoga pinched back.

"Seriously man, leggo of me. This ain't funny anymore."

Only then did Ryoga realize he'd been nipping and pinching at her breasts. His hands shot away like lightning, but the damage was done.

"You pig, don't you know a girl's boobs are sensitive?"

Ryoga was now terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. But since he hadn't been beaten into a bloody pulp yet, he figured he may as well ask. "Your…" he couldn't even spit out the word, "Why are they sticking up?"

"My nipples?" Oh she was so uncouth. "I guess they just get that way when I get, uh, excited."

Did she just…? was all he could think.

To Ryoga's great surprise, she didn't immediately jump up off him. She gracefully rolled off his abdomen, and sat down beside his trembling form. "Ah man," she huffed, "I've gotten to second base with Ryoga. Let's get you home before something even more stupid happens."

She pulled a half-empty flask of tea out of Ryoga's pack, and dumped it over his head.

Ranma had carried him back to his tent. The little pig had struggled at first, but soon he accepted his fate. Ranma was going to help him out whether he liked it or not, so he gave in to the inevitable, embraced the horror, and let his archrival pet his little piggy head and take him home.

When they reached the tent, Ranma dutifully unpacked Ryoga's things and set up the little portable stove to heat up some water. When Ryoga was human again, she started cooking dinner for the both of them.

It was a struggle putting pants on without upending the stove in the small tent, but somehow Ryoga managed it. Ranma found it hilarious watching him squirm around like a worm.

Ryoga decided against putting on a shirt. After all, Ranma was blushing so it must have been quite warm in the tent. "You're all red in the face, Ranma." He could have sworn that the girl's cheeks turned a little bit redder right before his very eyes. "Here, I'll open the door and let some fresh air in."

"Stupid sexy Ryoga," Ranma cursed under her breath.

"Huh, did you say something Ranma?" Ryoga asked, not in the mean-spirited sense of already knowing the answer, but actually wondering what she'd said.

"I said thanks for that, Ryoga."

"Ah, well, I guess you're welcome Ranma. Though you don't have to cook dinner, I can manage on my own."

"Oh, it's no trouble really. I had gotten some things on my way home anyway since I was going to be back home well after supper time. I figured I'd just play around in the kitchen and see what I could make for myself, but it's always more fun to cook for a friend."

In that instant, Ryoga finally could no longer deny it. His rivalry would always be an unrequited one. He felt silly, having nursed his grudge with Ranma for so long, when Ranma didn't feel the same way. Maybe it was time to let go. Ranma couldn't be all that bad if she didn't hold his little theatrics against him.

Ranma had made curry. It was a bit unorthodox, but still definitely delicious. For the first time, Ryoga didn't mind that the pretty girl doing him a favor was Ranma. Their friendship seemed to have survived a lot worse than some awkward and confusing sexual attraction, so it seemed silly to worry about it.

After cleaning up the camp after dinner, they sat out under the stars and talked. It was a warm night, and summer was definitely on its way. When Ryoga laid down in the soft grass to gaze up at the stars, to his surprise, Ranma laid down next to him, resting her head right next to his.

They gave each other brief run downs about the day's weirdness.

"So yeah, I accidentally asked a cute girl out on a date," Ranma said, more than a bit embarrassed.

Ryoga stared at Ranma suspiciously, "How did you manage that?"

"I'll tell you when I figure it out myself. We were at this hobby store, and I couldn't tell if she was trying to sell me things or hitting on me. So I got this bright idea to force the issue. And now I guess I'm seeing her after she gets off work day after tomorrow."

The idea of two girls dating seemed bizarre to Ryoga. He couldn't wrap his head around it. "But you're a girl now Ranma," he stated matter-of-factly, as though it were some obvious omission on Ranma's part.

"Yeah, but I spent most of my life as a boy."

"Well, yeah, that makes sense in your case. But she didn't. Why would she like other girls?"

"Why wouldn't she like girls?"

"Uh…It's just weird."

"Dude, you're gonna have to get with the program. Let's not let this get in the way of being friends, especially now that we're not fighting over Akane."

"I already said it made sense for you. Listen man, I'm trying to understand, I really am. It's just some strange idea I've never heard of."

There was a long silence. Ranma scooted a bit closer to Ryoga, pressing up against his body. It was hard to get over her old knee-jerk reactions. But the night was getting a bit chilly, and sooner or later she was going to have to get used to being attracted to that dork. At least tonight, she resolved, she was going to just enjoy their bond and the warmth of his touch without feeling guilty.

It made Ryoga uneasy, but he calmed that weird churning feeling in his gut. It was getting cold, and Ranma was quite warm anyway. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing wrong with being attracted to her body. Maybe he'd believe it eventually.

"So, I'm beginning to think that Kasumi is a lot more devious than she puts on," Ryoga said out of the blue.

"You too huh? Glad I'm not the only one."

"Well, today she seemed quite keen at getting every opportunity she could to get me naked and generally messing around with my curse. I think she finds the fact that I lose my clothes when I transform funny."

"Yes," Ranma deadpanned, "What other possible reason would a girl want to get a guy like you naked for?"