Before we begin, I would like to greatly apologize for the ridiculously long delay of the upcoming chapters to this story. I have no valid excuse for this and I feel that I can't apologize enough. But I guess it's worth a shot. I'm sorry. To compensate, I have uploaded two chapters to continue this story. I had originally planned to upload three chapters but I guess I couldn't. Anyways, I hope that some of you are still reading and enjoying this.

Chapter 10 Friends

Under the evening sky, in the little yard of their home, Ranma and Ryoga were sparring. Ryoga wanted to see how different Ranma was after her first retraining session. He expected her to bounce back quickly like she always would, and he wasn't disappointed. They were careful enough though to not create too much noise to wake Kizuna. After nearly an hour, the two stopped and cooled down and went back inside.

"Well, looks like you managed longer than last time," Ryoga smirked.

"At least I'm getting better!" Ranma retorted as she rubbed her slightly sore parts. She then faced Ryoga and placed her hands on her hips. "Pretty soon, it'll be like the usual times when I always beat you," she said, giving him a smirk of her own.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Ryoga responded, patting Ranma's head teasingly. Clearly it ticked Ranma off. She went for a quick punch which Ryoga barely dodged. "What, you still wanna fight?" Ryoga challenged, smirking slightly at the irony of the situation. It must be frustrating for Ranma to be treated as how she used to treat Ryoga. He could see that as Ranma fumed. Ryoga then laughed lightly.

"Hey, come on. Chill," he said with a friendly smile. Ranma seemed to grow calmer and he noticed that. She lowered her gaze and then walked off and sat down on the couch. She reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Ryoga looked at her tentatively and then went to sit down beside her. He just watched the screen as Ranma jumped channels. Shirokuro then came to Ryoga's feet and received her warm owner's hand on her head.

"You okay?" Ryoga asked, looking at Ranma. There was no response for a while but then she sighed and leaned into the couch. Ranma then murmured something.

"Huh?" Ryoga said.

"Eh, nothing," Ranma replied quickly, shaking her head. She didn't say anything else. She then stuck to one channel showing an advertisement. Ryoga continued to look at her though, wondering about what she said but then decided to shrug it off. He sat back and just watched the advertisement. The silence between them was painfully awkward and so he thought of something to spark up a conversation.

"Hey, I heard you arguing about something this morning," Ryoga said.

"When?" Ranma replied, her eyes still on the TV.

"With your dad," Ryoga simply said.

"Oh, that. I-It was nothing big," came her reply.

"Really?"

"Yeah, just nothing," she replied. Ryoga noted that she was not going to open up.

"Uh…ok…," Ryoga said, thinking wisely not to push her. 'Well that didn't work,' he thought. Ryoga averted his attention to the TV and was greeted with a documentary about pigs. His eye twitched while Ranma snickered. Shirokuro saw what was being broad casted and seemed to understand the situation as she laughed in her own way.

"Oh shut up," Ryoga said, folding his arms in front of his chest. He slammed his back against the couch as he watched with an annoyed expression. Ranma's held back chuckles then turned to a full-blown laughter while Ryoga sat in quiet anger.

Spring break was now over and school had reopened. Students were strolling into the compound of Furinkan High. Nodoka and Ryoga were among the crowd, leaving Ranma at home with Kizuna. Nodoka needed to settle things with the school about her daughter so she separated from Ryoga and went to find the school's office. Since Ryoga was early and the school bell hadn't rung yet, he went to find his friends. He saw Hiroshi leaning against one of the many trees in the school. Hiroshi noticed Ryoga and pushed himself from the tree.

"Hey, you're really early today," Hiroshi said as he walked up to Ryoga. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the woman dressed in a traditional kimono. Ryoga looked at who Hiroshi was referring to.

"Oh that's my…" Ryoga paused, managing to catch himself in time. He nearly shivered as he thought of the consequences of revealing something that would most probably complicate things. Quickly, he reconstructed his sentence.

"That's, Ranma's mom," Ryoga said. Hiroshi sharply turned his head back at Ryoga with astonished eyes.

"Really? Hm, never saw his mother before," he said. Hiroshi's face then lit up. "Hey, does that mean he's back?" he asked with excitement. Ryoga sweat dropped at that.

'That wasn't any better!' his mental voice said.

"Um, yeah," he replied simply.

"So, why's he not in school then?" Hiroshi asked with curiosity. Ryoga almost corrected Hiroshi about the wrong gender-term used.

'Man, I've gotta be careful today,' he thought, sighing inwardly.

"Um, there're a few…complications," Ryoga replied.

"Which are…?" Hiroshi pressed on.

'Damn he's persistent,' Ryoga thought. As he tried to think of a response, Daisuke came and interrupted the conversation.

"Hey guys," Daisuke said.

"Hey," the other two replied.

"Did you know Ranma's back?" Hiroshi stated.

"He is? How'd you know?" Daisuke asked, equally surprised as his friend. Hiroshi simply stuck out his thumb sideways, pointing at Ryoga.

"Oh…If he's back then why isn't he in school?" Daisuke looked at Ryoga.

"Well…it's kinda hard to explain," Ryoga replied.

"Does it have anything to do with you?" Daisuke asked. Ryoga paused as he tried to find an answer.

'The questions are getting more dangerous,' Ryoga thought.

"Sort of," he answered shortly, hoping that they would just buy that answer.

"What do you mean?" Hiroshi pushed on. Ryoga was out of replies now. Right on time, the first bell rang.

"Ah! There's the bell!" Hiroshi said, glancing at the large school clock. He then looked back at his two friends. "C'mon, let's go!" he said and then ran off. Daisuke nodded and ran after Hiroshi, leaving Ryoga to sigh in relief.

'Curse my honesty,' he thought.

The students were happily chatting with each other in the homeroom as they waited for their teacher to enter. They all huddled in their own respective groups, leaving a number of seats empty. Ryoga was in his seat surrounded by his friends who had surprised him with a question he never expected. His mouth was wide open while his mind panicked.

"Hey, come on! Tell us!" Hiroshi said, snapping Ryoga out of his stupor.

"Who…Who told you?" Ryoga asked. Though, as he said that, he pretty much already knew the answer.

"Nabiki told me," Shirou answered, raising his hand a little.

"Damn that woman," he grumbled. 'Why is she still sticking around here anyway?' his thoughts added.

"So you really are married?" Daisuke asked. Ryoga lowered his head and sighed.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"Isn't it a little too young?" Hiroshi said, looking at Takeshi.

"Hm, could it be that…," Daisuke paused and they all looked at Ryoga with realization on their faces. Ryoga now had his back up against the wall with no way out. To make it worse, a few more students joined in the group, curious about what was going on.

"No way…"

"You already did it?"

"Nice goin' man! How was it?"

A huge sweat drop formed at the back of Ryoga's head as they all started talking at once.

'Man these guys catch up fast,' he thought.

"With who anyway?" Hiroshi asked. Everyone hushed instantly. Ryoga momentarily froze but then relaxed slightly as they didn't know the person was in fact a certain red-headed girl they knew quite well.

"Nabiki didn't tell you that?" Ryoga said.

"No," Hiroshi answered, frowning a little. "No matter how much we offered, she wouldn't budge."

"Phew, good," Ryoga said quietly, relieved. 'Wow…never thought Nabiki would reject any payment,' Ryoga thought. Though, he was increasingly getting annoyed by their oncoming questions.

"So, come on, tell us. Who is it?"

"She must be really hot."

"Yeah, I'd like to see who she is."

"Hey, why don't we go to his house and see for ourselves who…"

Shirou was interrupted harshly by Ryoga as he slammed his fists angrily on the desk and stood up abruptly.

"SHUT IT ALREADY!" he snapped.

Everyone in the class stared back at him mutely with nervous eyes. Slowly, the small crowd around him dissipated and returned to their respective seats. Everybody's conversations were also disrupted by Ryoga's sudden outburst so they all too dispersed quietly. Ryoga sighed heavily and slowly sat back down. He let his head rest on the desk for a while until the first period teacher came into the class.

The sky was starting to darken as the day neared its end. As Ryoga walked towards home, he looked up at the cloudy evening sky. He sighed at the thought of today's events. He had feared that they would somehow find out but he was careless to have forgotten about the probability of Nabiki telling them. Now, he knew that his friends were not going to leave him alone despite his earlier outburst.

'Suddenly I feel like going away for a while,' he thought.

Then, he suddenly remembered how it was when he enrolled to that school. Everyone was scared of him. They knew from past events about what he was capable of. He didn't really like how everyone kept looking at him like he was going to explode any second. It was quite depressing to feel that people were not really comfortable with him around. But after a while, Ranma's friends started to get acquainted with him.

First it was just small talks. They usually asked things about him. At the same time, he also started to get to know them. Before he realized, they were already friends. For someone who's been living on the road for so long, it amazed him how one word can quickly and easily form a bond between people. He then shook his head, careful to not let his thoughts wander off too far.

'Gotta stay focused,' he thought. He looked at the palm of his right hand, as if seeing something only he could. Slowly he curled his fingers. 'It's still pretty unstable.'

He sighed in relief as he saw his house just meters ahead of him. He pushed the gates open and led himself in.

"I'm home," Ryoga called out. As Ryoga took off his shoes, Ranma came to the entrance. She was carrying Kizuna who had her head rested on Ranma's shoulder, sound asleep. Shirokuro came to the front door as well, eager to greet Ryoga.

"Welcome back. H-How was your day?" Ranma asked, smiling a little. Ryoga looked up at Ranma, a little surprised. It was rather an unusual question; one that he did not expect at all from her.

'She even sounded different…like…,' Ryoga thought but couldn't find the exact word to describe it.

"It was…okay," he answered anyway. He smiled a little and then quickly looked at his feet as he felt the heat rising on his cheeks. He realized that he felt a sense of serenity, almost forgetting what had happened at school. After putting away his shoes, he walked past Ranma towards the living room.

"Has your mom gone home?" he asked, stopping to look back at Ranma who was just about to answer.

"Oh…you don't want me to be here?" Nodoka pouted playfully, popping out from the kitchen, startling Ryoga a bit. The young man laughed lightly in response.

"No, I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to say goodbye before you leave," he said.

"Oh my, how sweet," Nodoka laughed lightly. "Dinner's going to be a little bit late tonight. Genma would also be joining us."

"Oh okay," Ryoga gave a little nod. Just then, the doorbell rang, stopping them all in their tracks.

"I'll get that," Ryoga volunteered, walking quickly to the door. They all wondered who could be on the other side at this hour. Ryoga opened the door and was instantly shocked by the uninvited guests at the doorstep. Ranma was equally surprised as well.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ryoga and Ranma asked simultaneously.

"It was Shirou's idea," Hiroshi said, pointing at the accused person. Shirou stared shockingly at Hiroshi.

"How'd you guys find my place?" Ryoga asked in a rather panicked tone.

"We followed quietly behind you," Takeshi answered simply. Ryoga was rather stunned by that. He should have been able to sense their presence.

"How the - ,"

"Hey it's Ranma," one of the classmates noted. Everyone then noticed the long-time missing red-headed girl.

"Hey, why's Ranma in your house? And whose baby…is…" Hiroshi didn't finish his sentence when he mentally made his conclusion. The others seemed to arrive at the same thought too. The guests looked at Ryoga with wide eyes. Ryoga and Ranma were similarly speechless, horrified to have the truth discovered. While everyone simply stood frozen in shock, Nodoka did a rough calculation of how many people were at the doorstep.

"I'd better prepare a little something for them," Nodoka said cheerily, slipping back into the kitchen.

The living room was filled with students from his and other classes as some didn't look quite familiar to Ryoga. Some sat on the long couch while most of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor. Ryoga was sitting with those on the floor while Ranma sat on a chair, cradling Kizuna as she continued to sleep.

"So, that's what happened," Ryoga said, finishing his explanation with a weary sigh. It felt really awkward to tell them about it but he needed to clear things up with them or else things may become really bad. Everyone was silent after hearing Ryoga's story. There were only whispers among them as they absorbed the new information. Ryoga looked at the relatively large crowd huddled in the living room, roughly estimating their numbers.

"Did you guys bring the whole school here?" Ryoga asked Hiroshi.

"Well, the news kinda got out and everyone was just curious about it," Hiroshi answered sheepishly. Ryoga sighed in response.

"Just…make sure that no one else hears about it," he said.

"Heh, we can't really guarantee that," Daisuke said. "Who knows how many have heard of this. Before we even realize, the entire school might be buzzing with it by the weekend." Ryoga nodded a little, knowing well enough how things like this spread around Furinkan High.

"But don't worry. No one will know the additional info we found out today. I promise," Takeshi assured. Ryoga and Ranma sighed in relief.

"Good. If they do, it's gonna be a real problem," Ryoga replied. No one spoke after that, leaving an awkward atmosphere in the living room

"Um, I think I'll go put Kizuna in her crib now," Ranma said as she stood up. She left the living area and went up the stairs. Not long after, the girls nodded at each other and stood up to follow Ranma up the stairs.

"Uh, where are they going?" Ryoga asked as his eyes followed the girls' movements.

"Probably some girls stuff," Shirou answered.

Just then Nodoka came out of the kitchen with a pitcher of a fresh juice and three towers of paper cups on a tray. After placing it on the table, she went back into the kitchen and brought out another tray this time carrying two large plates of biscuits. Everyone reached out for their refreshments while Nodoka returned to the kitchen.

"Hey, Ryoga," Hiroshi called out. "How do you really feel about Ranma?" he asked. Ryoga nearly choked on his drink.

"Huh?" Ryoga responded.

"How do you feel about her?" Hiroshi repeated. Ryoga looked at everyone's eager expressions.

'I'm not gonna be able to escape this conversation am I?' Ryoga thought as a sweat drop started to form.

Meanwhile, Ranma was being surrounded by the girls in the room where she and Ryoga slept. She had put Kizuna in her crib and had directed the girls here. Ranma sat on the floor with everyone, leaning against the side of the bed with her arms wrapped around her raised knees.

"Hey, you know, maybe he really does like you," Yuka said.

"Huh?" Ranma responded, rather surprised at that suggestion. "Why would you say that?"

"You see, we had always wondered why he never tried to flirt with any girl," Yuka continued.

"Despite his shyness, he was still able to talk to some of the girls there though," Sayuri added. "But he never really wanted anything serious with them."

"I tried flirting with him too but he just acted like we were only friends," one of the girls said.

"Yeah, same here," another one said.

"Now we know why he was acting that way," Ayame said, grinning. Ranma had never seen her before but she had introduced herself to Ranma. Her dark eyes seem to be burning with excitement and along with her long black hair, she looked pretty.

"He's quite devoted huh," Hana, a small brown-haired girl said, smiling.

"Uh, well, as martial artists, honor is important for us," Ranma replied. "O-Our…um…marriage was a way to retain our honor."

"I wonder…is that all there is to it?" Ayame said, imitating a detective who was hot on the trail.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's nothing else," Ranma insisted.

"How can you be certain?" Ayame replied. "You can never really know until you ask him."

"Ask him what?" Ranma said.

"Why he agreed to marry you, or does he feel anything towards you," Ayame continued.

"B-But, that's just weird…suddenly asking that," Ranma replied.

"Hm…could it be that you're scared of what his answer would be?" Sayuri joined in, grinning a little.

"What, no!" Ranma replied.

"Then just ask him," Yuka pushed on.

"You won't get this out of yourself if you don't do it," Hana added.

'Well actually, I've never had this in mind before. You're the ones who brought it up,' Ranma thought.

"You must be curious about his true feelings towards you," Ayame said. "Aren't you?"

"Why should I?" Ranma asked.

"Maybe from the way he acts around you?" Ayame said. Ranma, after hearing that sat in silence as she thought back of how Ryoga was around her.

"Well…I guess," Ranma murmured, still audible enough though.

"Then go for it!" Ayame gave a big grin. Ranma chuckled a little but didn't say anything else.

Meanwhile, back with the boys…

"Get close to her man. You might find out," Hiroshi said.

"I don't know why but that sounds weird," Ryoga replied as he took another sip of his drink.

"Dude, what kind of person you think I am?" Hiroshi said. Ryoga then put on a thoughtful look and opened his mouth to reply. "Don't answer that," Hiroshi quickly added.

"C'mon, wouldn't you be happy to know if a girl like her likes you?" Daisuke said.

"A girl like her?" Ryoga quoted, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah," Daisuke responded. "She's hot! Who wouldn't be happy to get someone like that?" he sighed a little.

"You know we're talking about Ranma…who's actually a guy," Ryoga said, feeling slightly disgusted by Daisuke's response.

"Was…C'mon man, you gotta forget the past and move on," Takeshi said.

"Yeah, right now she's a girl and already your wife. Shouldn't you start looking at her as the girl you married?" Hiroshi said.

"Hey, it's not like I wanted to," Ryoga replied.

"But, any way you look at it you already accepted a life with her," Takeshi said. A grin spread across his face. "Maybe you were really agreeing to this."

Ryoga was not able to answer right away as he pondered his friend's words. He had agreed to this to retain whatever honor he and Ranma had left. And that was all. But Takeshi's thought bothered him. Was there really something else?

"T-That doesn't mean anything," Ryoga blurted out. Takeshi was about to say something when the girls came down the stairs. The girls entered the living room and took the remaining cups of juice and biscuits and sat down to enjoy them. Not long after, they all set their empty cups back on the trays.

"Well, I guess we'd all better go home now. Got home works and stuff to do," Hiroshi said as he stood up. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Ryoga nodded a bit. The guests said their thanks to Nodoka and walked to the door. Ryoga followed the group out to the gate. While everyone else walked off, Takeshi spoke to Ryoga.

"You sure you don't like her?" he asked.

"Enough about that already," Ryoga replied, exasperated. Takeshi laughed a little.

"Come on, she can't be that bad," Takeshi said.

"She's not. It's just that…"

"You never dreamed of this to happen?" Takeshi added at Ryoga's pause. Ryoga's only response was a long sigh. "Well, from the way you act around the girls at school, it gives me the impression that you're really committed to Ranma."

"Hey, it's for the sake of our honor alright," Ryoga replied.

"You sure it's just that?" Takeshi asked. "And what about her? Don't you wanna know how she feels about you in this?" Ryoga stared at his friend who had laid down questions that would eventually plague his mind that night. Takeshi took that moment of silence as his queue to leave.

"Well, see ya!" he said as he walked off. Ryoga just stood there for a while, thinking about what Takeshi said before turning back towards the door. He walked into the house and closed the door when Ranma came up to him.

"Uh, dinner's ready," she said, a little nervously.

"O-Okay," Ryoga simply responded. The two just stood there in a momentary awkward silence before Ryoga spoke. "Um, what were you girls talking about?" he asked.

"It was…nothing really," Ranma replied. "They just kept asking a lot." She laughed a little at that. "What about you guys?" she asked.

"Nothing important," Ryoga shrugged. Ranma nodded a little.

"C'mon, let's go eat," she said.

"Uh, shouldn't we wait for your dad first?" Ryoga said. As if right on cue, the doorbell rang. Startled a bit, Ryoga turned and opened the door.

"So, is dinner ready?" Genma asked, showing a big grin. Ryoga nodded a little and let the older man enter the house.

"Alright! Time for dinner!" Ranma beamed. She turned and walked off towards the dining area with her father following closely behind. Ryoga chuckled at that.

"Yeah," he said.

'I wonder...do I...and does she...'

Takeshi had caught up with Hana and Ayame. The others had already left and went back to their respective homes. Now the three were the only ones on the street, walking together.

"So, how'd it go?" Hana asked, looking at Takeshi. He shrugged in response.

"I don't think I really did much," he said wearily. He was then surprised by a hit to the head.

"What do you mean you didn't do much?" she scolded.

"That hurt idiot," Takeshi glared up at Ayame as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

"Are you okay?" Hana asked a little worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Takeshi reassured. "Geez, why do you have to be so hyped-up all the time?" he asked Ayame.

"Well it's not common to have friends who are already married while still schooling," Ayame replied.

"Obviously," Takeshi replied. "We wouldn't have known if it wasn't for Nabiki," he added. "It was surprising that she'd ask us to try getting them together. What does she gain from this anyway?"

"Well, she said that those two are dear to her and that she wanted them to be happy," Hana recalled. The three then paused a few seconds before simultaneously saying "Naah!"

"That can't be it. It's just too nice for her," Takeshi said, laughing a little.

"Who knows what her motive is. Probably something to do with their dojo," Ayame said.

"Hm, probably. Well, let's just leave it to them now. We can push them a little from time to time but in the end they're the ones deciding," Takeshi smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. This is their love story and we don't really have the right to interfere," Ayame added. Takeshi laughed a little at that.

"Nice one," he commented, receiving a glare from Ayame.

"Yeah, let them find themselves on their own," Hana continued. Takeshi nodded, gladly agreeing with the two.

"C'mon, let's go. It's getting dark," Takeshi said as he looked at the setting sun, radiating a mixture of orange and yellow light. Then, he shifted his gaze at Hana and couldn't help but stare at her. He loved how her long brown hair seemed to glow and how the light illuminated her face just right. Hana noticed and blushed slightly.

"W-What?" she asked, smiling shyly. Takeshi didn't answer straight away. He continued to stare at her for a few moments.

"You know…you should stand under the sunset more," Takeshi smiled as he spoke softly. Hana giggled delightfully.

"Get a room you two," Ayame said, a little annoyed. Takeshi laughed in response.

"Aw, poor Ayame doesn't have anyone for her," Takeshi teased. Ayame then punched him in the face, making him fall and then proceeded to beat him up.

"I'm not jealous!" Ayame yelled, stressing each word as she continued to stomp on Takeshi while Hana struggled to restrain her.

Takeshi then spoke in between Ayame's blows "I…never…said…"

"Shut up!" the furious black-haired girl yelled as she kept stomping on Takeshi.

The sun had already sunk beneath the horizon about an hour ago. Most of the lights in the house were switched on except for a few unused rooms including the room in which Kizuna slept in. As her mother had left, Ranma could go back to sleeping with her daughter. Though, presently Ranma was on the bed she and Ryoga previously shared, only because Ryoga told her to do so. Ranma continued to stare at the ceiling as she thought about what was discussed among the girls earlier.

'Hm…I guess there's really no harm in asking. But what if he's just acting that way at school because of the marriage? Or maybe he really…'

Ranma covered her face with her palms as she groaned. Just then, the door to the room opened. Ryoga came in carrying a heavy schoolbag with its straps looking like they were going to rip away from the bag itself.

Ranma then raised herself to a sitting position which seemed to cause Ryoga to pause and look at her strangely.

"What?" Ranma asked.

"You're not wearing anything underneath that T-shirt of yours aren't you?" Ryoga asked flatly. Ranma looked down at what she wore and then grinned as she thought of something a little naughty.

"Oh my, impatient are we? Better get started then," Ranma said seductively as she played with her blue T-shirt, as if trying to take it off. She was then surprised by Ryoga throwing the schoolbag to her. Ranma leaned back a little as she reflexively caught the bag and then laughed.

"Relax, I was just joking," she said, smiling widely. Ryoga looked away as he tried hiding his reddened face.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said, annoyed. Ranma continued to laugh.

"Anyway, I've gathered some things you missed from last year and this year," Ryoga said, pointing at the heavy-loaded bag.

"What, all of this?" Ranma said in astonishment as she looked at the bag's contents.

"Maybe not all of them, but I can say most of it," Ryoga shrugged. He chuckled at Ranma's shocked expression. "Better get started then," Ryoga simply said with a smirk.