Chapter 11 Deception

The little district of Nerima was now illuminated with the light of the rising sun. People were already up and about with their daily routines. On the other hand, Ranma was just about to open her eyes. She lay still on the bed as she stared at nothing in particular. Kizuna had kept her awake for nearly an hour the night before and that left her quite drained. She then reached lazily for the clock on the bedside table.

"9 o'clock," she said to herself. She set the clock back at its place. She stretched herself and let out a small groan. Slowly, she sat up on the bed and looked over at Kizuna who continued to sleep peacefully in her crib. Ranma then yawned and rubbed her right eye.

"Waking me up in the middle of the night," she grumbled. She groaned again and got off the bed. She went over to Kizuna's crib and gently picked the little girl up. She exited the room, leaving the bed in a mess. She would get back to that later.

Ranma came down the stairs and entered the living area where Shirokuro lay sleeping in the middle of the room. She looked outside, noting the soft brightness that lit up the yard. She figured she should get some training going before Kizuna woke up. Ranma walked over to the couch and daintily placed her daughter down. Then she gently shook Shirokuro awake.

"Look out for her okay," Ranma said softly. Shirokuro nodded sleepily and got up. She went closer to the couch and plopped back down to sleep. Ranma chuckled slightly and then went outside.

There was a soft wind blowing which gave a serene environment for Ranma to train in. She could feel the coolness of the damp grass under her feet. She deeply breathed in the fresh air and then assumed a starting position before losing herself in her exercises. She was glad that she still remembered the moves despite the long break from martial arts. She moved with absolute fluidity with barely a hint of awkwardness.

Then her instincts kicked in, telling her to evade an oncoming attack. She responded quickly by jumping to the side just as three throwing knives stabbed the spot she was at seconds ago. She looked up at her attacker standing on the brick wall surrounding the compound. The person's identity was hidden by a black cloth wrapped around the bottom half of the face and a hood over the head. Only the eyes were visible while the rest of the person was enveloped by a black cloak.

As the person leapt onto the ground to recover the knives, Ranma felt a sense of familiarity from the unknown person. She tried to sense the person's aura but could only feel a small piece of it which wasn't enough to identify who it was. Ranma did a quick analysis and figured that the person was a girl.

"Trying for a sneak attack huh? Are you scared to fight me head on?" Ranma smirked a little. She could see her attacker being annoyed, though the girl didn't say anything. Instead, she quickly closed the distance between her and Ranma with a dagger ready to slash her opponent. Ranma sidestepped to the left and tripped the charging girl. Instead of falling to the ground, the attacker tumbled forward and landed on her free left hand and sprang back onto her feet.

The girl then sharply turned around, several throwing knives flew from her right hand towards a surprised Ranma. The red-headed girl managed to duck quickly while the deadly projectiles flew over her to imbed themselves in a nearby tree.

'Ryoga's not gonna like that,' she thought, cringing a little. When she looked up, the other girl was closing in on her again. Ranma quickly straightened up and dodged the attacks coming at her. The other girl then produced another dagger in her left hand. Suddenly the attacks sped up, but Ranma was able to keep up and continued to weave around the slashes.

'She's good. I can't find any openings,' Ranma thought as she continued to dodge the daggers. 'I'm gonna have to counter-attack if this is ever gonna end.'

Ranma dodged another strike and then quickly jumped back, creating a gap between them. Ranma could see the other girl starting to tire out but was not close to giving up on her prey. Ranma quickly jumped back in and initiated her Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. The other girl could not keep up for long letting Ranma land a few hits on her. She was thrown back and landed hard on the ground. But quickly, she got up again and charged at Ranma. Her barrage of attacks was faster than before but Ranma was still able to stand her ground. Before the girl even realized, Ranma had disarmed her by striking both of her hands. Ranma then gave another quick punch and sent the attacker flying.

"You should stop now when you have the chance," Ranma said as she watched the other girl slowly getting on her feet. "I don't particularly like fighting girls but if you persist then I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back," Ranma continued, dropping slowly into a stance. The other girl glared at Ranma for a while before turning around and bounded off away from the yard. Ranma watched as the other girl got further and further when she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her right hand. She brought it up to see her knuckles had wounds covering them and blood was slowly seeping out.

Ranma then re-entered the house and headed for the kitchen. As she washed her wounds, she wondered who that person was. She did well to hide her traces until Ranma wasn't able to recognize her. Her thoughts were interrupted when Kizuna started to cry. Ranma quickly finished washing her knuckles and then went to Kizuna.

Meanwhile, the masked girl stood on a roof of a house, looking at the general direction of where she had fought Ranma. She stood there, thinking of a new approach to attack Ranma. After some time of thinking, she turned away and went off towards the opposite direction.

The last bell rang, indicating another day of school had ended. It seemed that what Ryoga's friends said was true. The whole school now knew of his current situation. Some did not really bother to ask questions. Some were just excited and happy for him. Some of the girls looked disappointed for some reason.

"Ryoga Hibiki!" a voice called out, startling Ryoga. He groaned, not wanting to face the idiot's blathers. He quickened his steps though it was rather futile when Tatewaki Kuno blocked his way.

"What is it?" asked Ryoga, his tone clearly indicated his impatience. "You shouldn't even be here anymore."

"I merely came here to wish you a happy life with whoever it is that you married," said Kuno.

"Uh, ok, thanks. Now can you move?" Ryoga said flatly. Kuno seemed oblivious to what Ryoga said.

"Say, who is your wife? I would very much like to meet her," he said. Ryoga sighed though it sounded more like a low growl.

"Sorry, she doesn't really like guests," Ryoga replied.

"Oh, well that's –,"

Ryoga cut off Kuno, side-stepping him and ran off. "Alright I gotta go," he said as he passed him. Kuno stood dumb-founded which gave Ryoga a good amount of time to get away. Ryoga ran for quite a while before slowing back down to a normal walk. He let his mind wandered off for a bit but then realized his mistake and quickly looked at his surroundings.

Ryoga sighed and stopped walking. "Great, I'm lost," he said dejectedly, letting his head hang. Then he looked up, suddenly having a serious expression on his face. He scanned the area he found himself in and was glad that no one was around.

"Alright," he said and then stood straight with his eyes closed.

Ukyo reached over to turn on the lights as the inside of the restaurant was getting dark. She then returned to her grill and continued to prepare her customers' orders. Just then another customer walked in and went to the grill to place his order.

"Hi welcome to Ucchan," Ukyo said cheerily. "What would you have for today?"

"Hm, I'll just have the regular to go," the young male said. Ukyo nodded a little in acknowledgment.

"Alright, hold on," Ukyo said as she placed the already the three finished okonomiyaki on plates. She swiftly went to the respective tables and gave the customers their orders. She stole glances around her restaurant. There were about 10 customers in the building, enjoying their food. Most of them were adults who had just finished another day of work. Though, some of them may have to return to their offices later that night. So they stopped by here to have a little break from all of that.

Ukyo went behind her grill to prepare her recent customer's order. When she looked at her materials she was rather startled to find that they had finished. She turned to her customer and apologetically said.

"Uh, sorry we're out. I didn't realize I already used up the last batch."

"Oh, ok," the customer said, nodding a little. "I guess I came a little too late." He laughed a little. Ukyo chuckled in response.

"Well, if you'd like I can hold on to your order and deliver it to you later," she offered.

"Nah, it's alright. I'll just come again tomorrow." The young man left his seat and walked towards the exit. Ukyo just watched as the man walked out and then went to close her restaurant. Though, she was disappointed that she needed to close early. She went to sit on a stool behind her grill and she let her mind wandered.

She started to think about Ranma, as she had been ever since the girl's return. It was tiring to be suddenly thinking about this again when she had worked hard to put it behind her. She remembered back when she was first told about what had happened between Ranma and Ryoga. She had strained to mask her anger as she did not want to be rude to Ranma's mother. After they had left, she remembered a few plates were smashed and the mess was cleaned up later that night. She could not sleep well. When Ranma left, it started to hurt more. It was like Ranma was no longer reachable.

Ryoga seemed to understand her somehow. She chuckled slightly at the memory of her trying to beat him up, though it did not really cause much damage. There were a lot of talk sessions between them but one she mostly remembered.

Ryoga sighed as he leaned against the edge of the counter, resting his elbows on it. "Why do we always get pulled into the things that surround Ranma?" he said, adding a tinge of humor.

"Well, at least you're not affected emotionally. You seem to be doing quite well," Ukyo replied sourly. She sat on another stool beside Ryoga in the currently closed restaurant.

"You don't understand," Ryoga replied calmly. "Even though I was forced to, I could never really let go of the guilt. Everyone keeps saying that it wasn't my fault. I try to believe them but I just can't. To know that you've affected someone's life in a way you wouldn't wish onto others. It's painful for me and for her too. I mean, she's the one who's suffering the most from this."

"Yeah, but what about the people around her?" Ukyo said, still quite upset. "This whole thing affects everyone else too you know."

"I know. You already told me that," Ryoga replied. But Ukyo just went on.

"Back before all of this happened, things were much clear you know. I knew what I wanted, what I had to do. Now, I'm just not so sure."

"Not so sure?" Ryoga asked.

"I knew that Ranma was promised to me, as well as to Akane. Shampoo and Kodachi also wanted him. I had to fight for him. That was clear. But…," she paused for a while. "Ever since this happened…I…I'm just unsure of what to do. I feel that…I have accepted the fact that Ranma's now a "she" and taken by someone else."

"Well, you can always change her back with some water from the spring," Ryoga suggested.

"But it's not really that easy is it?" Ukyo said.

"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked. Ukyo sighed. She shook her head, and then covered her face with her palms.

"I dunno," she said, putting down her hands. "It's been what, two months already?"

Ryoga nodded a little. Though, he knew that the question was not directed to him.

"During the first few days since Ranma left, I kept telling myself that there's a way to reverse this. That there's a cure, or maybe we could use the cursed water like you said. After a week or so passed, it became harder for me to imagine a life together with Ranma. Every time I try it just cuts short."

Ukyo paused for a bit and then continued.

"Now it's almost impossible. Then I started having these thoughts. I hated myself for thinking that way. But at the same time, somewhere deep inside me kept insisting that it's true. That I don't really love Ranma. That maybe I only love him as a close friend."

Ukyo leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees while she clutched her head with both hands.

"I don't know what to do now," Ukyo moaned. Ryoga just watched as Ukyo struggled with herself. He felt awkward to sit in the same room with someone who was having a dilemma. He hurriedly thought of something to say. His mouth opened and closed but no words came out.

"Maybe you should let him go," he finally said. Ukyo shot her head up, shocked at Ryoga's suggestion.

"What?" Ukyo said. Anger started to burn in her eyes. Ryoga could see that but he did not shrink away.

"I think you should let Ranma go," he said.

"What, you wanna keep 'her' for yourself?" Ukyo asked, both teasingly and angrily.

"What? That's not my intention!" Ryoga replied. "If you keep hoping for him you're only gonna hurt yourself. You'll end up miserable."

Ukyo scoffed. "This coming from a hopeless guy who's obsessed over an unreachable girl?" she retorted. Ryoga frowned and leaned away from Ukyo.

"Fine," he simply said in restrained anger. He pushed himself off his seat and walked off towards the exit. As he opened the door, he said over his shoulder, "Thanks for the food." He didn't expect a response from the girl and so he just walked out, leaving the door to slowly close. Ukyo huffed and got off her stool and went up the stairs to her room.

Her problem remained. Each night she lay awake for about an hour, thinking of what to do, of what Ryoga said. She couldn't really let go of Ranma. But she had learned to forget about it. And it remained forgotten. That is until Ranma returned. Everything came back then, rushing to her. Now, she had to choose again, but this time forgetting Ranma altogether weighed out the other option. And she was slowly coming to a conclusion.

Ukyo's thoughts were interrupted when the door swung shut. She looked around to find her restaurant now empty. She sighed softly as she stood up to clean the place up. She grabbed a tray and walked to a table to pick up what was left by the customer. As she cleared the table, a sudden feeling of someone else's presence washed over her. She looked around the silent restaurant and didn't see anyone. She then placed the tray down and slowly turned around.

"Hello Ukyo." A young woman clad in a black cloak came out from the darker side of the café. "I need talk to you," she continued.

"Oh, hey Shampoo," Ukyo said monotonously.

"What? How you know?" Shampoo exclaimed as she ripped off her mask.

"Well, your voice and grammar gave it away," Ukyo shrugged.

"Great, you completely ruin dramatic effect," Shampoo murmured to herself as she put away her mask and pulled back her hood.

"What do you want?" Ukyo asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Shampoo straightened up and grinned slightly while she walked towards the counter.

"What were you thinking just now?" Shampoo asked. She then turned to face Ukyo while she rested herself against the counter. "Something bothering your mind?" she added. Ukyo frowned at her words.

"Why are you interested in that?" Ukyo asked. 'Hm…her Japanese has improved quite a lot,' her thoughts added.

"Oh, I'm only offering help," Shampoo replied. "It must be hard to know that you not have chance with Ranma anymore. I know how it feels." Ukyo froze. "It is ironic no? He is here but we cannot go near. We have been fighting for him so long. We have been hoping for his return. Now, our hopes have been completely crushed."

Ukyo could only stare at the floor as she listened to Shampoo's words. The other girl noticed Ukyo's fragile posture and grinned as she continued.

"If only it never happen. Then we would still have chance."

"Yea, if…if only it didn't. I guess it's useless to hope now. To turn back," Ukyo said. "But, even though I should, letting him go is just painful." Shampoo nodded at that.

"Things would not be this way if it were not for stupid Lost Boy," Shampoo added. Ukyo looked up at Shampoo. "You know, I think that he was there on purpose. I think he knew what was happening," she continued.

"W-What?" Ukyo responded, surprised at Shampoo's words.

"Don't you think so?" Shampoo went on. "Maybe he want Ranma for himself." Ukyo looked away, unable to meet Shampoo's piercing gaze.

"N-No way. H-He never said - ,"

"Of course he would not admit that," Shampoo interrupted.

"B-But Ranma said that they were under some sort of spell," Ukyo countered.

"Yes, but are you sure Ryoga was under that spell too?" Shampoo asked. "For all we know, Ranma might also be lying."

"What? No way! He…she would never! I trust Ranma!" Ukyo affirmed.

"Fine! But can you trust Ryoga?" Shampoo retorted.

"I-I do trust –,"

"You barely know him," Shampoo interrupted. "How do you know he tells the truth? He is desperate to have a girl in his life. He choose any girl that would throw herself at him. And he sees Ranma as one of those girls."

"N-No!" Ukyo replied.

"I think that he would even choose me or even you if we decide to fall for him," Shampoo went on.

"That can never happen! I know he's desperate and –,"

"And you believe him, while you don't even know him well?" Shampoo cut Ukyo off.

"What? Are you claiming that you know him more?" Ukyo exclaimed.

"No. That is why I do not trust him," Shampoo replied. "He is doing this for his own gain."

"Shut up! How can I even trust you?" Ukyo retorted.

"I not asking you to trust me," Shampoo replied. "But you think of this too, don't you?"

"I…," Ukyo couldn't continue. It was then that she suddenly remembered what Ryoga had said, "Maybe you should let him go." It sounded suspicious now. It was as if he's saying that she had no chance with Ranma, ever. That he had won. And he was persuading that Ukyo stopped her futile love battle.

"I-It can't be!" Ukyo shook her head. 'All that time of coaxing me. Telling me to forget Ranma. It can't be that he - ,' Ukyo's clenched fists started trembling at those thoughts.

"Is because of him that you and I are in pain now!" Shampoo exclaimed.

"H-He couldn't have!" Ukyo said. Her eyes started to water now. Shampoo paused for a few seconds as she took on a serious look.

"You know yourself that it is true," Shampoo said in a deadly calm tone. Ukyo was shivering now. "That he has been hiding his true colors."

Ukyo let out a battle cry as she charged at Shampoo. Shampoo dodged to the side, at the same time tripping Ukyo. She fell hard, face-first to the ground. Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. She tried lifting herself off the ground but was only able to raise her upper body.

"H-How dare he?" Ukyo whispered shakily. "That bastard." Anger possessed her and threatened to explode as she trembled uncontrollably. Shampoo's grin grew wider but was then erased by a mask of sympathy. She approached Ukyo and knelt down in front of her.

"What you want to do now?" Shampoo asked. Ukyo didn't meet the other girl's gaze. She wiped her tears with the back of her palm. Then, Ukyo gave out a short dark chuckle.

"It's time that his pig body served its purpose," Ukyo said. "Ranma…Ranma can wait." Shampoo smiled evilly.

"I can lead you to your vengeance," she said darkly. She offered her hand to Ukyo. Ukyo looked at it, then at Shampoo who was now smiling softly. Though, something about that smile felt so wrong. She looked back at the hand and reached for it.

The front door opened and an exasperated Ryoga walked in. He shook his head, trying to drive away the thoughts of Kuno finding out about him and Ranma. It would bring great annoyance to his life if he ever did, he was sure.

"I'm home," he called out as he removed his shoes. The house was really quiet, which made him worry whether he was in the correct house or not. He sighed in relief when he recognized the familiar setting of his house. He figured that by this time Ranma was out training at the back. His guess was right when he went through the house to the yard. He watched as Ranma went through her moves, completely engrossed with her training. Then he saw Shirokuro got up and ran towards him. He knelt down just as Shirokuro reached him.

"Hey girl," he said as he rubbed the dog's neck. Shirokuro panted delightfully. Ryoga looked up and saw that Ranma had stopped with her training.

"Hey, took you long enough!" she shouted. A big grin had spread across her face. "Come on let's fight!"

Ryoga chuckled and stood up.

"Your dad didn't come today?" he asked.

"Oh, he left about an hour ago," Ranma replied while she walked towards Ryoga. Ryoga was staring at Ranma who wore only a T-shirt and tracks, drenched with sweat. Her skin seemed to glisten every time she moved and it was affecting Ryoga. Ranma noticed that Ryoga was staring and so she stopped.

"What is it?" she asked.

Ryoga was caught off guard by the question. Quickly he tried to find a response. Then, he noticed Ranma's bandaged right hand.

"Your hand," he said. "Did something happen?"

Ranma looked down at her hand and then quickly hid it behind her.

"Oh it's nothing really," she said. "Just a little accident while fighting pops."

"Really?" Ryoga said skeptically.

"Yeah! Come on, stop worrying about me!" Ranma said, practically jumping with energy. "Let's fight!" She was already in her stance, waiting for her opponent to get ready. Shirokuro understood that signal and left her two masters alone. She settled for a spot closer to the house. Ryoga chuckled and then adopted his own stance. The two slowly circled each other, eyes locked, steps synchronized. Then, at the same time they launched towards each other, immediately engaging in a heated battle.

Ranma's movements were clearly faster due to her smaller frame while Ryoga's tougher body was taking some of the beatings without any substantial damage. Shirokuro just watched as her masters fought with such intensity that it was hard to tell who was more likely to win.

"Finally, I have found you!" shouted an all too familiar voice. Ranma and Ryoga abruptly stopped and looked at the samurai-clothed senior approaching them.

"Where'd you come from?" Ryoga exclaimed.

"He followed you home?" Ranma yelled in disbelief.

"I was sure I lost him!" Ryoga said. Just then Tatewaki Kuno stopped in his tracks and stared at Ranma.

"Pig-tailed girl!" he exclaimed.

"Oh great," Ranma muttered.

"I have been longing to see you again for quite some time now," Kuno said.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Ranma said dully.

"Oh? What is Ryoga Hibiki doing here?" Kuno asked.

"This is my home you idiot," Ryoga replied.

"But then why is the pig-tailed girl here?" Kuno asked. Then he paused as his mind started working out the possible reasons. Eventually he came to a conclusion.

"It can't be," he said dramatically. "Tell me pig-tailed girl. You are not married to this swine are you?" Ryoga's eye twitched dangerously at that insult while Ranma's eyes lit up as she thought of something. To Ryoga's surprise, Ranma suddenly latched on to his arm.

"Oh yes! And we are very happy with each other," she said sweetly. Then she looked up at Ryoga and said "Aren't we?" Ryoga looked down at Ranma who was putting on an adorable face. He started to stammer and he could feel his face burning up.

"You vile creature!" Kuno said, readying his wooden sword. "How dare you put a spell on such an innocent, vibrant young woman?"

Ryoga reacted strangely to that comment. Ranma was ignored while Ryoga just gazed off into the distance. Ranma noticed this and she realized why. Slowly she removed herself from Ryoga.

"Spell," Ryoga mumbled to himself. Kuno then charged at Ryoga, who stood without any sign of action. Then, Ryoga crossed his arms over his chest as he focused his energy. Kuno kept on charging, not realizing what was about to hit him. Ryoga then held out his hands as a ball of energy started forming between his palms. It quickly grew to a more stable and stronger form. Ryoga then shoved the ball of energy into Kuno's abdomen just as the sword bearer was about to strike him down.

"Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryoga cried out, sending the delusional senior blasting towards the sky. The backyard then quickly fell silent. Ranma stared at Ryoga, feeling awkward with the current situation.

"Uh, Ryoga?" she said. Ryoga didn't respond for a while but then turned around.

"What the hell were you doing?" he yelled.

"W-What?" Ranma responded in surprise.

"Why'd you declare to him that we're married?" Ryoga said.

"What'd you think? It's so that he'd quit bothering us!" Ranma replied.

"He'll bother me at school!" Ryoga retorted.

"He's still there?" Ranma asked.

"For some reason he didn't wanna leave!" Ryoga was still seething. "Now my school life is totally screwed!"

"So what? I went through that and I turned out just fine!" Ranma replied angrily.

"Ah! Whatever!" Ryoga said as he walked back towards the house. Suddenly, he stopped just as he reached the back door of the house.

"You know, you really haven't changed much," he said over his shoulder. "Don't look at me like that again." Ranma gaped at what Ryoga said. She just stared as he stormed off into the house.

"Fine! You immature pig!" Ranma yelled. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from the door.

Shampoo and Ukyo were currently in the room above Ucchan's. Ukyo was pacing around her room while Shampoo was leaning against the wall. The lights were switched on as the sun was starting to give way to night time.

"It would not be smart to attack Ryoga with Ranma around," Ukyo said. "Against the two of them together we don't have a chance."

"So we need to separate them," Shampoo said. "But how?"

"We'd have to be separated too so that we could keep them away from each other," Ukyo added. "But fighting against Ryoga one-on-one would be a daunting task. We're going to need numbers to pull this off."

"But first, how we separate them?" Shampoo asked. The room became quiet as they thought of a way.

"Akari," Ukyo suddenly said.

"What?" Shampoo said.

"Months ago, Ryoga met this girl Akari," Ukyo explained. "He had defeated the girl's pet sumo pig which was a criteria set by Akari's grandfather for a rightful husband. Akari had proclaimed her love to Ryoga but he couldn't accept her. Maybe we can use that."

"Wait a minute," Shampoo said. "Defeating a pig to become worthy of marriage?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's no different than your law when a male outsider defeats an Amazon –"

"Okay whatever!" Shampoo interrupted. She stood in silence as she contemplated on Ukyo's suggestion. She brought a hand up and rubbed her chin when a smile formed on her face. "Hm…we might actually be able to use that," she said with an evil glint in her eyes. Ukyo in turn smiled as they proceeded on planning their next moves.

Well, that is all. I'm pretty sure two chapters are not enough to pay up the long delay. But still, I hope you guys enjoyed them.