Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½. The only things that belong to me is the story and my own characters.

Hope everyone in the US had a Happy Fourth of July! And to everyone else who didn't have Independence Day I hope you all had a nice day as well! ;)

Filler: Of Frilly Dresses and a Lovely Afternoon

"It's not too late to turn back now." Ayano's mind perpetually pinned onto that thought nervously.

She left her house not too long ago on her way to the Saotome dojo. The constant thought of canceling today's plans nagged at her. Her mind played out several scenarios, none of which ended happily. Maybe her lack of confidence influenced the results, she thought to herself.

But as a precautionary measure, Ayano had told her father if she came home early to not let her back in the house unless she had a good reason. Her eyes were trained on her white and red striped slippers, occasionally looking up as to not bump into anything. She absentmindedly reached a hand up to a touch a lock of hair, which kept getting into her eyes. After having spent hours curling her hair, it just didn't want to keep itself tidy. A red purse was strapped around her shoulder, squeezing the straps between her nervously clenched fists.

Her purse was better than average, decorated with various types of flowers embroidered in gold colored silk thread. The bag matched well with her dress. The dress she was wearing was probably the best she had in her entire wardrobe, which wasn't saying much. Each sleeve of her dress was a pleasant shade of scarlet. The color scheme was snowy white patterned with large red roses.

She assumed that Ryuku's sister would probably be wearing something a little fancier yet still casual in a way. Ryoko was a pretty girl. She looked like she would be into dressing up on an outing. Ayano hoped Ryoko wouldn't mind how she looked.

The first few steps into the Saotome residence caused a sudden realization which made Ayano even more nervous. Not to mention she found out she was running a bit late but she couldn't back out now. Ryoko was probably already ready to go.

Other questions popped into her mind as she inched towards the front door. "What if she forgot about today?" she asked herself. "Or worse: what if she cancelled without telling me?"

Ayano shook her head, shaking all those pesky thoughts out. "Calm down," She whispered to herself. Yet, despite saying those two words, the tension still built within her.

After gathering what little courage she had, Ayano slowly lifted her hand up to ring the doorbell.

There was no turning back now.

Her index pressed against the doorbell, after a long while, the front door swung open.

Ayano hoped that anyone but Ryuku would answer the door, but there he was. She quickly chased away the look of surprise on her face, hoping that the red head didn't manage to see it. Considering how her luck was on a good day, which would be pretty bad for most people, this shouldn't have come as a shock to her.

Ryuku looked like he had just woken up. He was still in his pajamas bottoms and a loose fitting white tank top. His hair was heavily disheveled, he seemed to have trouble keeping his posture straight and his eyelids fluttered every few seconds or so. His face was obviously showing signs of grumpiness, most likely due to the "early" wakeup call.

It was only a little half past noon. On the weekends, Ayano was usually the first one up in the household, while it appeared that Ryuku was a late starter. Ayano couldn't help but wonder if the same thing applied to his sister.

"Good afternoon, Ryuku," she greeted meekly. "Is… um, Ryoko ready?"

Ryuku rubbed at one of his eyes with the back of his hand. "What," he paused to let out a long yawn. "What are you talking about?" he winced at the sunlight and used his hand as a temporary visor against the sun. Idly, he looked over her appearance. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"We were supposed to go shopping," Ayano quickly added just to better clarify things. "Well, I was supposed to shopping with your sister."

He let out a groan. "Oh, right, right," he sighed and rested his forehead against the doorframe. "You sure that was today?"

"Yes, but if you want," Ayano started uneasily. "I can come back another time—"

"No, you're already dressed up and you're here," he rationalized in a gruff voice. "Ryoko's… still asleep. I—she'll need to take a shower when she gets up. It'll be awhile till she's ready."

A small smile went on her lips. She was relieved. "I can wait."

Ryuku picked himself off the doorframe. "… Of course you can," he grumbled. He turned around to shuffle inside, but not before gesturing with his hands that it was alright for Ayano to come inside the house.

For the last fifteen minutes, Ayano nervously checked her cell phone every few seconds, unsure if she was supposed to do something or maybe help. She even considered the thought of asking Ryoko if she needed help getting ready. However, the house was rather large and she had no clue where Ryoko could be without assistance. Ayano frowned a little as another minute passed by.

Ryoko's house was definitely in need of a good cleaning. Of course, she would never tell her this. That'd be much too rude. But it was the truth. Despite the size of the room, the amount of trash easily reduced its usable space. There were small piles of trash in several areas, on the coffee table there was empty cups of ramen and other types of snacks, and dust seemed to be everywhere! Ayano fought the urge to wipe everything clean strongly.

"How could anyone live in this kind of condition?" Ayano thought, as she leaned over to look inside an empty bowl that was placed on the table in front of her. She shuddered in disgust to see there were noodles that must've been sitting there for weeks.

Her ears perked up, hearing the sounds of footsteps descending the flight of stairs. Ayano figured it was Mrs. or Mr. Saotome, Ryuku, or Ryoko. She hoped it was the latter. Ayano turned to see Ryoko at the bottom of the stairs. Ryoko's attire was rather simple. She wore a purple longed sleeve shirt that had a large heart printed on the center of it and a pair of black faded jeans. Ayano felt slightly overdressed, but there wasn't anything she could fix.

Ryoko was holding a small yellow towel in her hands, idly rubbing through her damp black locks. "Sorry, I took so long," she said. "I was working all night so I forgot to set my alarm when I got home."

"Oh!" Ayano said, as she got up to follow Ryoko, who was already at the front door. Ryoko plopped down onto the front and grabbed a pair of black slippers to put on.

"Is your brother going to be tagging along?"

"… He's sleeping."

"Maybe if it's not too much trouble you can ask him to…" she glanced over the room.

"To what?"

"To clean up a bit?" Ayano quietly answered.

Ryoko frowned. "I'll tell him when I get around to it."

"Should I not have said anything?" Ayano asked herself. She sighed it looked like she was already starting on a bad note. "Well, you look nice?"

Ryoko paused as she put on her right slipper. She glanced over her shoulder to look up at Ayano. "Uh, thanks," she blinked. "You… look nice too."

Ayano couldn't help but beam at the compliment. "Thank you!"

"Yeah," Ryoko said unenthusiastically. She got onto her feet and opened the door showing Ayano the way out. "I guess we better get going."

The dress was a plain white color. It was slimming yet elegant and had an overlapping Victorian frill design at the upper chest and at the hem. Ayano ran her fingertips over the fine material. She knew that she couldn't have found anything better, it was perfect. With a smile, she lifted the dressed up by the hanger, and went to find her shopping buddy.

Ayano found Ryoko searching through a clothes rack. "What do you think?" Ayano asked as she held the dress up in front of her.

Ryoko gave the dress a quick glance over. "… It's nice."

"Do you like it?"

Slowly, Ryoko nodded. "Sure."

"That's great! I think this'd look wonderful on you," Ayano chirped merrily. She held out the dress in front of Ryoko, waiting patiently for her to take it.

"… I can't wear that."

Ayano's smile drooped. "Why not?" she asked curiously, she was slightly disappointed with Ryoko's answer. "Should I get you another dress instead?"

"I thought all we were going to do was…" she paused, her lips curled into a light frown. "Look."

"We are," Ayano agreed. "But that doesn't mean we can't try some clothes on. Won't you please wear it? I couldn't possibly pull a dress like this off."

Ryoko stared at the dress. "It'd look much better on you," she insisted. "I know it will."

"How about you pick something else for me to wear instead?"

Ryoko ignored her last statement, too focused on thought of having a dress on her body. "Look, I just can't wear that. I don't want to wear that… thing."

Ayano looked over the tag. "… Did I get it in the wrong size?"

"Are you stupid?" Ryoko blurted out irritably, before she could stop herself. "If I wear that than my masc—" abruptly, she shut her mouth.

"What?" Ayano blinked. "What were you going to—"

"ara, my mascara might get ruined," she cut in firmly. Confusion still lingered on Ayano's face. "What?"

"… Ok. I understand. I don't want to force you into wearing this if you don't want to," Ayano told her with a sad smile. "I didn't mean to upset you, Ryoko. Wait here while I put this back."

"W-wait a second," Ryoko mumbled, placing her hand over Ayano's shoulder. She removed her hand when Ayano glanced at her. "Let me see the… dress again."

Like she had done earlier, Ayano held the dress up. Ryoko bit at her thumbnail in thought while her eyebrows furrowed. She seemed to be in deep thought.

Finally, with an exasperated huff, Ryoko took the dress from her. "I'll," a smile went on her lips. Ayano couldn't tell that it was forced. "I think I'll wear it after all."

"Really?" If Ayano was trying to hide her excitement, she was doing a horrible job of doing so.

"I just said I would, didn't I?" Ryoko grunted. "Just hurry up before I change my mind."

Ayano vigorously nodded her head. "Of course!" she said. "The changing rooms are this way."

Bouncing with anticipation, Ayano sat onto a stool on the other side of Ryoko's changing stall, waiting for the girl to finish putting on the dress. A sale's woman came up to Ayano, holding a pair of white low heeled shoes in her hand. Ayano would surprise Ryoko with these when she came out. She was sure the shoes would go amazing with the dress.

"Were these the ones you had in mind?" the sale's woman asked, displaying the shoes on her palm.

Ayano looked them over. The heels were opened toed with light yellow bows on the top. "Yes, thank you so much."

"Ok, I'm ready," Ryoko grumbled from the other side of the stall. "You're not allowed to take any pictures, got it?"

A few seconds later the curtains were pushed aside, revealing a scowling Ryoko, who had an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Ryoko had her arms crossed her chest, as she avoided Ayano's gaze.

Ayano clapped her hands together in delight. "You look amazing! I knew that dress would be perfect on you!" she hopped onto her feet and thrust the heels towards Ryoko, who simply stared at them. "I thought these would go great with the dress I picked out. Don't you think?"

Ryoko grimaced. "They have heels."

"Do you not like heels?" Ayano asked. "I could ask for something else if you want. Would you rather have flats?"

"I—"

The sale's woman returned to butt into the conversation. "Oh wow!" she announced as she looked over Ryoko. "That dress looks great on your figure," she told Ryoko, who's face pinched. "You'd certainly make any boy's heart melt," The sale's woman turned to Ayano. "You really should consider buying it."

Ryoko interjected before Ayano had a chance to answer. "No!" she exclaimed with wide eyes. A second later, she cleared her throat, and said in a lower voice. "No, that's ok. She doesn't want to do that."

But the look in Ayano's eyes told the sale's woman that Ryoko was wrong.

Ryoko stumbled slightly as she walked in her new shoes, due to never having worn heels in her life. She stared down at her newly bought dress. It was against her will, of course, she wouldn't be caught dead wearing this kind of dress in public, if it wasn't for the sale's woman's sharp wit and Ayano's insistence. Hell, she wouldn't be wearing anything girl related if she had the choice.

Ryoko stared at the bag in her hand, where her clothes and shoe were shoved inside. She had dressed modestly for a reason, she should've known better than to agree to go clothes shopping with a girl that wasn't a part of his family. Then again, his relatives wouldn't have any better.

With a sigh, Ryoko said. "I can't believe you bought me this."

Ayano gave the girl a smile. "Just think of it as a present from me."

"… a present for what?"

There was a brief pause, before Ayano said. "… the start of a friendship?"

Ryoko spared her a glance, an unreadable expression on her face. Suddenly, Ryoko suggested that they change directions. Eventually, they found themselves at a nice little park. Ayano paused to look over the calming scenery.

"Do you want to sit down for awhile?" Ryoko suggested, pointing at a nearby bench.

"Alright." Ayano said with some hesitation.

Once they took a seat, Ayano sat in silence as she watched children frolicking all over the playground. When she was younger, she'd always follow her older sister to the park. Naori would usually get upset, screaming at her to leave her alone, while she went to play with her friends.

Out of nowhere, Ryoko suddenly asked. "… You do have some friends of you own right?"

Ayano hadn't expected the question. With a bit of trouble, she answered. "… I never really had any friends of my own," she said, with an uneasy laugh. "I've always been by myself."

Ryoko was silent. After several minutes, Ryoko then asked. "Is that why you always bother… my brother? You just want to be… friends? That's all?"

"O-of course," Ayano said. "What other reason would there be?"

"You don't…" Ryoko paused. "Like him or anything?"

"No!" Ayano's face went pale from Ryoko's insinuation. "Oh, I hope he doesn't think that I… oh goodness no! He's just so misunderstood. I just know that he can't be that bad of a person."

"… right."

Ayano wrapped her arms around herself, still not quite over what Ryoko had asked her. "… He's also really scary," she missed Ryoko's face shift to a slightly damper expression. "You won't say anything to him?"

Ryoko shook her head, a scowl on her lips. "It'll be something kept between us… as…" she sighed. "Friends."

Without warning, Ayano let out a loud squeal. Before she could help herself, she brought Ryoko into a tight hug. It only took her several seconds, before she realized what she was doing.

With a squeak, she immediately scooted away from her, her face painted with a blush of embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Ryoko smiled. It was a tiny one, but it was still a smile nonetheless. "Don't be," she assured her with a soft chuckle. "I guess that's what friends do?"

Ayano returned the smile. "I-I guess so."

"Come on," Ryoko said, getting onto her feet. "I know a great ice cream parlor we can go to. It's not that far from here."

A waitress carefully set down the desserts Ayano and Ryoko had ordered. "You girls enjoy your meal!"

Ryoko cringed but muttered a few words of gratitude under her breath anyway as the waitress left. Ayano lifted a spoon up, placed a small amount of the ice cream parfait she ordered onto it, before putting it into her mouth.

Ayano's face brightened. She removed the spoon from her mouth a smile on her lips. "It's good!"

"You've had ice cream before right?"

"Of course, I have," Ayano replied, while taking another bite of her frozen treat. "It's just I've never had this kind of ice cream."

"That's okay," Ryoko assured her with a small shrug. "I've never really had this stuff either." Ryoko slid her parfait in front of Ayano. "You can have it."

"… What?"

Ryoko shrugged. "I don't have much of a sweet tooth."

Ayano's gaze went over to Ryoko's glass. "… But I don't want to be the only one eating. That'd be rude."

"Its fine," Ryoko insisted. "Every time I go here with Misaki she always orders that one. So, if she likes it, I'm pretty sure you'll like it too."

Ayano blinked at the sudden mention of Dr. Tofu's daughter. "Misaki?" she repeated. "You must have a great relationship with her too right? Like your brother?"

"Well, she's my cousin," Ryoko said. "I'd say she likes me as much as she likes my brother."

"It's really sweet that she has you two."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"… If Misaki likes this," Ayano pointed her spoon at Ryoko's neglected dessert. "I'm sure you'll like it too."

Ryoko snorted. "You can't just turn this back around on me."

"At least have a small bite?" Ayano spooned a small amount of the ice cream onto her utensil and carefully guided the spoonful towards Ryoko. "Say 'ah'."

"I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself," Ryoko grumbled, holding her hand out for the spoon, which Ayano happily placed it into.

Instead of simply shoving the spoon into her mouth to get it over with, Ryoko stared at the ice cream. She glanced up at Ayano, who was staring at her expectantly. Ryoko slowly brought the spoon in her mouth. Her taste buds were suddenly swept with a burst of sweetness. Ryoko's shoulders dropped. She had already expected the frozen treat to be sweet, but not this sweet.

"… Alright," Ryoko murmured when she removed the spoon from her mouth. "It's not too bad, but I don't think I'll have anymore. Like I said before, I don't have much of a sweet tooth."

"How about you try something else?" Ayano suggested. She picked up the dessert menu placed next to the napkin dispenser. She flipped through it, her eyes lightening up when she found something, and turned the menu towards Ryoko to point at a pictured dessert. "The cherry cheesecake looks delicious. Why don't you try this instead?"

Ayano hummed a tune under her breath as she waited outside the clinic. She felt a slight sense of déjà vu and couldn't help but wonder how Ryoko's brother was doing. The doors to the clinic swung open, as Ryoko walked out while she tried to stuff a medium sized thermostat into a small black athletic bag.

"Sorry for making you wait so long," Ryoko said, once she was successful with putting the large container away, she slipped the bag onto her back, and hooked her thumbs over the black ropes used as the bag's straps.

"It wasn't too long of a wait," Ayano said. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah, I did."

Ayano pointed her finger at the next corner. "It's that way to your house, right?"

"I'll drop you off at your house first," Ryoko was unfazed by the shocked look Ayano gave her. "It's only fair, since you went to my house this afternoon."

"You don't have to do that," Ayano said. "You don't even know where I live."

"I do—my brother won't mind texting me directions," Ryoko said, reaching into her shopping bag for her phone. With quick fingers, she texted a message and sent it.

Ayano couldn't help peer over the screen, as Ryoko waited for a reply. A received message popped up a moment later. Ryoko opened it, and before Ayano scolded herself for being noisy, she caught a few words from Ryoko's text: 'Why are you asking me—'

Ryoko abruptly snapped her phone shut, and clenched onto her phone when she glanced over at Ayano. "Ok. I got the directions."

"… You really don't mind doing this?"

"Its fine," Ryoko assured her. "It's the least I could do. You wasted money on this dress and shoes," she gestured at the dress on her. "You bought dessert… for the both of us. I'd be a jerk if I made you walk me home after all that."

"You're not a jerk."

"Uh huh," Ryoko nodded. "That's my scary brother, right?"

Ayano squeaked. "I-I wasn't saying that!"

"Relax," she laughed. "It was a joke."

As they started walked, Ryoko gazed up at the darkening sky. "Man, I could've sworn it wasn't this late when we left the ice cream parlor."

"Which did you like better the cherry cheesecake or the chocolate covered strawberry cake?" Ayano asked.

"Both of them were ok."

"What about the lemon meringue pie?"

"It was ok."

"I can't believe this," Ayano sighed. "Don't you like any desserts?"

Ryoko shrugged. "I'm not really interested in eating different kinds of food."

"R-Really?" Ayano sputtered. "Why not?"

"… It's kind of a long story."

"Well, if you want, I can make you a bento."

"Don't you already do that for my brother?"

"He told you that I did that for him?"

"Yeah, he did."

"… I don't normally break promises but," Ayano paused. "Could you tell him that I won't be making him lunch anymore?"

Ryoko stopped walking. "Why?"

Ayano stopped to face Ryoko. "I don't want to keep bothering him," she said. "It's clear that he doesn't like me."

"… You can't say that," Ryoko said, after a brief moment of silence. "You don't know him like I do. And don't say you're bothering him, because you're not."

"You don't have to lie to me," she sighed. "I just really appreciated him helping me out that one time, and it's clear that he wants to be left alone, so I'll just—"

"Shut up!"

Ayano looked taken aback. "R-Ryoko, I'm so sorry. I really shouldn't be talking behind Ryuku's back like that."

"That's not why I'm mad," Ryoko sighed. "That's far from it. Just… keep bothering him okay? I know he's a total asshole, a lot of people know that. He just… I already told you that he's stubborn."

"We can't be friends…"

"You and I are friends now aren't we?" Ryoko asked. "Just show him that you're not all that bad!"

Ayano bit at her bottom lip. "… Do you really think so?"

"I do," Ryoko said. "I really do."

"What if he yells at me?"

"He doesn't yell at you," Ryoko said defensively. "He just… expresses himself a bit differently from other people. That's all."

"… I'll try."

"If you'll try does that mean you'll keep your promise?" Ryoko asked. "You'll keep making him those bentos?"

"I made a promise didn't I?"

"A promise that you were about to break."

"W-well, I—"

"That was a joke."

Ayano let out a nervous laugh. "O-oh, I see."

"How about you make a promise with me instead?" Ryoko asked. "Does that sound like a better plan?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Since you seem to think that you're bothering my brother," Ryoko started. "Promise me you'll keep doing that. You know, keep bothering that jackass."

Ayano giggled. "I already said I'd try, Ryoko."

"Maybe I'd believe it if you sounded more confident."

"I'll try," Ayano repeated strongly this time. "But if he ends up shooing me away again, which he will, then expect me to tell you 'I told you so'."

"He won't do that," Ryoko grumbled.

"He will."

They carried their conversation all the way until they reached Ayano's house, laughing.

"I don't know about you," Ayano began. "But I really enjoyed hanging out with you today."

"… me too."

"I guess I'll see you whenever?"

"Yeah, whenever."

"Well, hurry home," Ayano said. "It's getting late!"

Ryoko waved her hand at her dismissively. "I can handle myself."

"Good night."

"Wait a sec!" Ryoko said. When Ayano turned around with a puzzled look, she saw Ryoko scratching her cheek. "I, uh, wouldn't mind doing this again sometime, just… maybe without the dresses?"

"That'd be nice!"

"See ya later."

Ayano hurried into her house and fell back onto the front door with the biggest grin on her lips.

What a lovely way to end the day.

When Ryuku had shed the dress and heels behind a secluded area, she quickly poured the hot water from the thermostat over her head, and pulled out a blue sweater and blue jeans. He changed in a hurry, and once everything was settled he broke into a light jog while he dried his hair with a towel.

A thought had been nagging at him ever since they had left the park. He set his towel around his neck, his hands pulling at the ends with a firm grip as he scowled in thought.

"Scary?" he mumbled under his breath. "She really thinks I'm scary? Jeez, I didn't think I was that much of a jerk to her."

He had tossed the shopping bag in a trashcan he had jogged past, due to having shoved the heels and dress in his athletic bag.

"Oh well," Ryuku huffed, disgruntled. "Least I'm out of that dress and those painful heels."

But despite those two little causalities, he couldn't deny that Ayano girl was decent company.