"Yes!. . .The best day of my life. . ." Boasted happily a girl with a bright future before her and a giddy little girl backing her every move up. That's how Ryoga Hibiki, the girl, embraced a life changing miracle when not only her daughter's illness had become an easy problem to treat, but the last remaining sin dragging all over her already depleted pride was finally over.
"Midori and Kenji are the best of friends and no other family could compare to their home, isn't it little girl?" Cooed the girl to a giggling baby agreeing with the statement through desperate wails filled with emotion and bubbles made of saliva spurting from the corner of her mouth.
"That's right little girl!. . .We live in a place where people actually love us. And now that Akane-san see us more often, the work around the house is a lot less than before. . .She even loves to change your dirty little diapers, yes! she does!. . ." Said the girl while ignoring the cute looks from couples watching the scene.
This morning like every other since Ryoga returned from her last training became a staple of true happiness for someone who had begged for this a long time ago. The first thing she did when everything calmed down was to thank a certain woman who may exist or not, but to the girl, she was very present in her life since day one.
As the soon to be eighteen year old girl threaded the grassy fields from Tokyo's mightiest parks, a sigh of content escaped her lips when old memories of struggle and depression were nothing more than past deeds buried away. Still, Ryoga would tilt her head to the side and contemplate the sad path following Ranma's relationship with Akane.
The pigtailed boy did try his best to save what he believed to be love, but according to her foster sister, that feeling must be nurtured and fed regularly if a couple is to become one. Akane hoped to be a Saotome sooner or later but either her pride or both their stubbornness kept tearing down what little they tried to build over the years.
"I'm so sorry for your mom Sachi-chan. She really tried to win Akane's love to the bitter end, and for what she told me, he is still trying to salvage something that died long ago. . .I wish I could find him a good girl who could love him just as much as Akane did. . .Well. Who knows. . .Maybe Ukyo or Shampoo might do the trick after all." Commented rather sternly the girl after sitting on the grass and lowering the stroller a bit down.
As she did so, the practiced training she had to undertake on the hospital sure came handy this time around. The tiny bundle was nothing more than screeching taunts against the sun, a butterfly floating by and even those dandelions searching the noses of bystanders with the goal to make them sneeze.
"Huh. . .Ahhh. . .hah. . ." Came the sound and the cue the girl knew by now from a baby struggling with allergies. Sachiko Hibiki had suffered for sometime now from asthma and those symptoms were a fearsome foe too hard to keep away, forcing the fanged mother to adapt or die trying. Good thing she adapted, and after several days going to classes on the hospital, a resolved teenager rushed to her little girl's side with mask and a can on hand.
The procedure was simple enough. A tiny plastic mask covering Sachi's little nose and mouth was carefully set around her face. Then it came a metal can with the medicine compressed within the spray, and before the tiny baby could be affected by any foreign object, Wails of happy joy and giggling sounds had defeated any allergy threatening to mess with the joyous girl.
"Here we are. . ." Said relieved Ryoga after the situation had been adverted. That is until a heavy sense of hatred descended over mother and child. The intent to kill floating on the air felt like a toxic cloud slowly seeping into every pore. . .Every hair around her body, but where it came from was the more pressing matter in the fanged mother's mind. Ryoga kept scanning the area for a possible assailant or perhaps a purse snatcher, but. . .No. They want money and not this desire to kill her.
Suddenly the park became this isolated desert filled with empty benches and hollow sounds from the fountain nearby. The happy chirping from birds and frolicking chipmunks vanished as if they knew something evil lurked close by and the feel to fly would automatically kick in, making the girl a lot more nervous than before. This time around Ryoga walked near the end of the road, leaving her daughter on a safe spot away from the shadows and free from a possible attack while she studied her surroundings.
Her instinct as a mother had worked so far, and it worked again when a shadow appeared from the bushes, forcing the girl to be ready for anything. "What the hell do you want!" Demanded the girl not knowing who he was or what he wanted. "Oh. . .Not much you ungrateful brat!" Answered no other but Genma Saotome as he walked into the light, pacing in circles around the teen while his guard and the glee from his eyes never left hers. "Mr. Saotome?. . .What are you doing here?"
"Save your pretty words "boy". . ." He kept walking forward, pressing his luck when he knew how strong the teenage mother really was and measuring the field of battle to his advantage. "I always knew you were powerful Ryoga, hell. . .I even thought of you as a match for m'boy, but you had ta go an' take his innocence away."
Ryoga tried to understand what was he babbling about, but his menacing stares towards the stroller made the girl realize he knew something about Sachiko. "L-Listen Saotome-san. . .I-I can explain. . .I." Replied the girl but stopping immediately when the man launched his attack despite the little girl being in the way.
Ryoga could do nothing but turn her back towards the old man, covering the stroller with her body regardless of the outcome of his intentions and accepting the full impact from his attack. "Aha!. . .An opening!" Screamed the crazed martial arts master while his extended hand hit the back of the girl with something increasingly hot.
"Damn!" Screamed the girl in pain when a burning sensation right in the center of her back told Ryoga he had done something. "W-What did you just do. . .?" The fanged teen panted tiredly by the attack, feeling strangely weak as her vision started to blur into a bright flash of blinding light and the heat from her back started to extend all over her body.
Forcing her eyes towards the hot coal the old man held with a set of tongs, she darted towards the man ready to fight back, but his speech forced the girl to stop, giving the old man a chance to monologue like a villain in a movie. "It was hard to devise a way to burn through that thick skin of yours, but there ain't no secret for the Saotome master of the Anything goes, an' soon you'll find out." After he finished his roaring statement, the bald man tossed the clamping tongs aside the road, preparing to attack again while the girl felt weaker by the second…Giving her no other choice but to retreat where the stroller had been safely set.
"Get this you perverted boy. . .My Ranma is a man an' he would never get you pregnant unless you tricked him into it. I'd advise you not to try anythin' on him, but I don' think you'll listen, so. . .Let's go to the next part shall we!" The bald man lunged again against the confused teen, assaulting the exact center of her torso with a similar set of hits although somewhat different from the first punch and with no after effect like the burning sensation from the coal earlier.
"W-What?. . .He thinks I became pregnant and not the other way around, but. . .The only one I told that lie was Akane." That was the explanation she missed until now, realizing how prone to mistakes Soun and that man were so easily to get. "I get it. She must've told him trying to protect Ranma and now I have to deal with him alone." Ryoga made sure to ask her so-called sister about the promise she swore when they would meet again, but in the meantime things looked badly for the girl.
"Damn it!. . .What the hell did you do to me now. Tell me!" This time Ryoga found hard not to attack her opponent, and she did so right after she made sure her daughter was safely away from the fight, but close enough for the girl to watch over the baby. "Whatever your son did means nothing to me old man. It wasn't my fault what happened to Ranma, and if you want to fix it, talk to him first!"
No answer came from the man who simply stared disgustingly at the fake girl. One thing came to mind in that precise moment for the bald fighter though. He sure was glad for the hours training those two acupuncture points last month, specially when he combined them with other rather stupidly points he found within Happosai's scrolls, but in the end he managed to memorize them in time anyway. When the girl almost reached where he stood, a calmly looking Genma didn't even tried to move, getting the full attack against his face.
Her fist connected against his chin, causing a massive wave around the area and sending him sprawling several feet away. . .Or that's what she thought it was supposed to happen. "W-What the hell?" Ryoga had her closed fist glued to Genma's lower face, slightly stretching his skin and leaving behind a throbbing sensation on her skin, but what came next was the wincing cry of pain instead when the bald man reached for her left breast and grasped it roughly.
"AAh!. . .S-Stop. . .Please!" Begged Ryoga while her mind shot to the time when Akane did the same to a naked female Ranma. "D-Damn. . .This really hurts. And I thought Ranma was faking it. . ." In that moment Ryoga understood what the old man had done from one of those two attacks. She ignored the pain for an instant and looked up to see his frightening eyes darting maliciously at her forced cleavage and enjoying the power coming from her fearful trembling orbs.
His smile alone made Ryoga's skin crawl, but what disturbed her instantly was what had happened to Ranma when Kuno, Happosai and Mousse attacked him at once and he saved him from the sure beating back then. "D-Don't tell me. . .You used that Moxibustion technique on me!?"
The old man couldn't resist a conniving laugh, making the girl feel worst than before while his still clamping hand made Ryoga ashamedly scream like a girl. "Ah!. . .S-Stop. . .please!" Begged the girl who took the full agonizing pain with no iron skin or massive strength like the one she had. "Not only that, but I used another technique that won' allow you ta touch hot water. . .Ever. . .An' ta make things worse I mixed them with other secret moves I got no idea what they do!" His cackling and disdainful banter turned Ryoga into several shades of red, either irritated by his misconception of the facts about his son or by the humiliating way the old man made fun of her situation.
The circumstances warranted a prompt escape from the defenseless teen, but being trapped with his hand firmly holding her chest meant no chances for the girl to release herself on her own. As the man's eyes began to ogle her from head to toe, Genma pulled a scroll from his back, opening it in front of her and explaining its importance.
"This!. . .little girl. Is the only cure for the moxibustion point and part of the puzzle with the other points. When my son was affected by it no one could help him until that old ghoul taught him the Ryu-Shoten Ha. But after I took the rest of the secret scrolls from my master, I ended up as the only one capable of reversing the technique. The funny part is how afterwards that incident happened everyone forgot a tattered diagram cut in pieces and glued into this. . .That is, everyone except me. Say goodbye to your last day as a "boy". . ."
As he said that the bald man shoved the girl so hard, Ryoga tumbled several feet away and near the stroller. Genma brought the coal from the ground and in a matter of seconds the scroll came alive with red and yellow flames.
"No!. . ." Screamed the girl half dizzy, and half hurt but the paper was nothing more than ashes flying into the sky by the time she extended her hand pointlessly. "Be glad I didn' think on makin' you my plaything. Fortunately, you "were" a man, an' that would make me a pervert an' neither me or M'boy are perverts!."
The girl could do nothing but stay in place, watching powerless how the old man walked away with a last warning thrown into the air. "You are a weak girl now so, either stay away from my son, or I will destroy you." Abated by her new state, Ryoga pushed the stroller towards home overwhelmed by the fear of Ranma knowing about her weakness, and fearful of what that man could do next.
Gladly to be among other people on the park, Ryoga meditated about this new development. "Somehow I think it was you, Life, who did this. If a recall correctly, the doctor attending little Sachiko told me she wouldn't be like other children."
"He said the asthma and the weakness of her premature birthing would hinder her normal development towards physical chores. And now, I'm stuck with the strength of a baby and unable to change back into a guy. . .You sure know how to teach lessons."
Caught up by her thoughts, Ryoga suddenly felt a giant hand grabbing her shoulder harshly. She dreaded someone else trying to assault her, but it was much, much worse when Genma's voice reached her trembling ears a second time today. "Come ta think of it. Maybe I should keep the baby an' raise him as a Saotome. . .Yes. That should be best. A male baby in the Saotome line would make me legendary."
Ryoga entered in a panic fit, forcing her bulging eyes to look for a solution, but finding no other except the way a weak girl defends her children from evil despite of who she really was. "Please!. . .Somebody help. He is trying to steal my baby!" Screamed the fanged girl at full blast.
Runners, couples and pedestrians alike turned immediately and lent a hand to the poor victim, forcing the bald man to snarl angrily and dash away empty handed. "Damn girl. . .You'll pay for this!" Shouted Genma but not leaving until his last warning made Ryoga dread her future plans.
"If I see you near my boy, I'm taking your son an' remember this. . .Girl. I can hide like no other. By the time you can sense me, it will be too late. . ." That was the last curse the bald master boasted angrily before vanishing into the park limits.
The stressed young mother was taken by the police where she made an official statement, a restriction order and a sketch of the kidnapper. When the police released her, a very shaken Ryoga pushed the stroller down the street, noticing the serious looks her baby had after Ryoga's distress was stamped all over her face. "You can feel my anguish, can you Sachi-Chan?. . .Don't worry. . .Mommy will never let anything happen to you."
A few minutes later Ryoga arrived home. She sneaked past Midori and Kenji who were talking about the girl and those yellow journals when an unexplainable sound coming from the entrance door opening and shutting told the couple she was back from her walk.
"Ryoga!?. . .Is everything Ok?" Asked concerned the blue haired woman when the fanged mother didn't announced her arrival. As she went upstairs to see if she and the baby were fine, Midori found the teen babbling almost naked near the tub on the bathroom.
"Damn it. . .Damn it!" Shouted tensely Ryoga while her hand kept slightly dipping in and out of the furo. "Is everything alright Ryo-Chan?" Wondered the woman. "No!. . .Everything is not alright." Replied the teen exasperated by the effects from Genma's techniques and her impotence to avoid such incident.
When Ryoga stared at her, she saw how afraid Midori looked by the sudden outburst. With a deep breath and looking back at her host apologetically, Ryoga bowed respectfully and stared down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry Mi-Chan. I didn't mean to explode like this. . .It's just that on my way to the park I met Ranma's father and he knew about Ranma and me."
The girl began to explain their fight and how the old man used two special acupuncture points coupled with other scrolls she knew the idiot had no idea what were they for. "Right now I have no strength at all and I just realized I can't change back into my male form. . .That second set of points made the temperature in my body feel cold water scalding hot."
As a way to demonstrate what she talked about, Ryoga submerged her fingers into the frozen water only to hear the sizzling sound of scalding magma turning her skin deep red. When Midori dipped her own, the water wasn't warm at all, understanding this was a serious matter.
"Although it seems like a really bad situation, you have acted like a nice, respectful woman since the day you transformed. . .Is it really that bad to be a full time female?" The question raised many unmanly alerts in the fanged mother's point of view, but Midori had a point of her own too. She was already accustomed to the gender and taking care of her daughter as a full time woman was a pro in all this. . .Still, something deep inside her mind kept announcing. . .The real boy cursed to become a woman was still deep within the fake girl despite all the sacrifice Life made him do to overcome loneliness.
"I-I guess your right Mi-Chan, but think about this. If you were forced to transform into a man, and than forced to be one permanently. . .Would you accept the transformation willingly?" The elder friend understood her point, forcing Midori to walk on his shoes in her head and deny such unnatural change if it were to be permanent.
"No. . .I don't think I could ever adapt to be another gender Ryoga. . .I guess it's really hard for you in the end." Even though Midori looked concerned by Ryoga's situation, the girl didn't show remorse from her loss after the troubled teen she met long ago slowly died down when Sachiko Hibiki came into his life. In fact, the fanged teen seemed so at peace afterwards, the blue haired woman opted to help her forget the incident with one of the best therapies Ryoga always felt comfortable with.
"For what is worth, Kenji has a presentation at eleven. Would you be willing to accompany him for a special translation job?" The young mother found the timing rather odd at first, but working with other people and stay busy always helped her to overcome difficulties in the past. Sadness still crept her old depression back into mind but the teenage mother simply faked to like the idea so much by asking Midori to help her with the minor details she still wasn't able to master as what she had become. . .A woman.
Several hours passed on Ryoga's bedroom after the argument, forcing the man in charge of the speech to wait impatiently downstairs until a totally different Ryoga walked at his side ready for her second job. He was practically speechless when the boy cursed to be a full-time woman walked the fly of stairs in a delicate manner and completely absorbed into her role as a female assistant.
Midori spent a lot of time perfecting the girl with what other scientists studied as part of their researches and, to the amazement of the man staring dumbly at the beautiful young woman dressed in a very serious looking blouse and a long office skirt, the motivational speaker ironically fumbled four simple words out. "Wow. . .You look. . .Beautiful."
"T-Thank you. . ." Came the nervous tone from the fanged girl who could do nothing but apologize with her eyes towards Midori when she as well thanked him for the compliment. When both girls stared at each other Kenji knew he would be in trouble not only with his peers, but other males in the crowd, and most likely some of the younger girls who loved to tease the young married man. Midori knew of this from previous chats with her husband, and that helped her reassure Ryoga in a joking way to be her new self.
"Don't worry Ryoki-Chan, take care of my husband away from any other pretty girl and we can call it even." Advised the slightly older girl while the fanged teen kissed her daughter goodbye. After the man kissed his wife tenderly, both left in a hurry, hoping to arrive in time while little Sachiko cooed from Midori's arms at the pair.
Uncertainty. That was the best word Ranma could find to explain his completely changed life. Back on Campus, his situation wasn't too bright by the looks of it. It was early in the morning when the pigtailed intern walked through the grassy area between buildings just like any other day. But unlike recently, the teen had started to transform into another being in a more subtle way.
He knew whatever relationship he managed to salvage with Akane was at best a strong friendship like the one they had on day one, when they met. He could feel some kind of rejection the girl felt ever since he was forced to flee Nerima for obvious reasons, but what scared him the most wasn't really the fear to miss his fiancée or future wife. In fact, the pigtailed teen had stopped seeing her like that for some time now and instead he was trying to save their connection. No. . .His fear came from someone else.
There was love between the teens, that's for sure, but it was true what he heard from Ryoki during their few meetings here and there. The strange green-eyed girl felt somewhat familiar for the boy and although they had never met before recently, Ranma came to trust her judgment over time.
"She said, love can' be taken or given instantly. . .She said, even love at first sight like romantic novels an' movies describe so much need time an' demonstrations of affection nurturing those relationships. . .I wonder how she knows so much. . ." Asked the boy to himself while skipping sprinklers right and left wetting the fields.
"It's so strange ta think 'bout her every time I find no solution for my problems. . .I feel. . .At peace for some reason. . ." Ranma began to understand another link was forming between the only girl believing in himself as a student and him. The sensation to be understood and even trusted made the teen almost forget all those depressing feelings about his lost child slowly eating him alive. It was hard to admit, he knew, but she was filling the gap he could not deal with ever since that day with no idea how was she able to.
When he finally arrived to the female dorms, a scene before the boy made Ranma freeze on the far corner of the parking lot. There they were. . .His last hope for love and his very best friend from back home. They looked strangely normal for a couple, thought Ranma, specially when they bid their goodbyes and left on different paths. It seemed impossible, but the pigtailed boy managed to see the small details in that relationship. . .At least from an external point of view.
There was no spark between the two, and what made the pigtailed boy skip joyfully was the peck Akane gave Daisuke on the cheek. After a cold farewell like that, he believed his competitor for their mutual love had no chance after his amazing declaration back home took their relationship to the next level.
So. . .With birds chirping at the tune of his happy humming, The martial artist threaded with confidence, arriving to the female dorm's entrance where Daisuke watched said girl leave towards the labs. "Hey!" Was the only dry salute Ranma threw at the boy, waiting some type of defeated smirk or lost cause grumble, but the teenage boy responded happily just like he always did before all this mess destroyed their friendship.
"Um. . .Daisuke man. Look. . .I didn' want this ta happen, but you know how I feel for her an' she. . .She belongs ta me. . .You know that." The young brunette chuckled at his obvious banter, and although he knew there would be a big chance for Ranma to win, the fight wasn't over until the end.
"Sorry Ranma, but I still think you're going to loose." His confidence forced Ranma's brows to crook, wondering why would he feel that way after the humiliating kiss she gave him not five minutes ago. "Unlike you Ranma, I am betting in Akane's heart and not on how much I can do to conquer her."
"And if she finally tells me no, than I'll leave, but she won't and you know why?" At this point the pigtailed teen was interested in what he was going to say. If it was physical charms, he could best him easily. Strength or looks, Ranma thought he covered those areas pretty well too.
Despite all the techniques or tricks he could think to entice the girl into his life, the one reason he gave him was the hardest to keep up with though. "She desires this life Ranma. I am not forcing her with the way I live, but I happen to enjoy what her heart wants. . .So. If I keep her, it won't be because I'm better than you, but because I share the way she wants to live."
Just as Ranma tried to counter his confident argument with his own prideful banter, Akane walked back from where she left, forgetting something back on the dorm and staring at the two boys, and wondering if everything was Ok in her absence. "Just peachy 'kane. I was tellin' him I have this really incredible presentation at noon an' was thinkin' if you'd like ta come with me. . ."
Akane stared at both boys sternly, trying to decipher if what he said was the truth, but the girl had some time before starting the study marathon with Daisuke and since Ranma looked so excited, the girl looked with askance at his lab partner.
"Just this once Dai. . .And afterwards I promise to pay for lunch!" Declared hopefully the girl. The brunette could see the sly looks Ranma gave him, rubbing on his face the defeat from yet another battle, but the teen shrug carelessly and kissed the girl on her cheek before leaving.
"No problem Akane-Chan. . .I'll be in lab number three this afternoon. . .Have fun." The raven haired teen saw how understanding and respectful her friend acted, and that was a point no amount of improvement Ranma had could compare to the boy.
"Let's go!" Said the teen as the boy pulled her hand excitedly. There he went again, she thought. Acting impulsively and rushed unlike the sweet Daisuke she learned to live with. While Ranma led his girl across the buildings, the pressure started to build up, forcing the boy to blurt what was in his mind.
"So Akane. . .Did you finally "let him have it". . ." The girl immediately frowned with angry stares, unlocking up from his hand and rubbing it from the struggle. "Did I finally let "whom" have it Ranma?" That was the answer he feared the most, forcing the boy to stop and scan her reactions.
"Daisuke of course!. . .Did you tell him we are together an' he don' need ta wait for you anymore?" The youngest Tendo felt like burying herself six feet under, but finding no other escape, Akane decided to cast her eyes down to the ground, letting the boy know this was far from over.
"I. . .I-I." But there was no definite answer. She tried to tell him more time was needed for her heart to decide, but the boy fumed in place, calming down immediately when he knew both teens in rage meant a fight, and that could destroy the progress he had reached so far. With a collected mind and a deep breath, the pigtailed boy closed his eyes, focused on his girl and asked again.
"Akane. Have I not tried ta tell you how much you mean ta me?. . .Look, I ain't the greatest of Romeos when it comes to real love Ok?" After a moment of flushing memories over his demeanor as a girl with Kuno or Ryoga, he tried to clear those emotions away and focus on the males as means to an end only. "I may "play the part" when there's no real feelin' but you. . .You are the one I l-lo. . .T-The one I-I lov. . ."
The pigtailed teen damned his lack of romanticism when it really counted, berating himself loudly but turning up to see if the girl still was with him. She grabbed his shoulder and nodded understandingly, but still keeping her eyes downcast. "I know what you are trying to say Ranma, and I really "like" you, but. . ."
She grasped tightly his shirt, looking for the strength necessary to say what she really wanted and hoping for this to be as painless as possible, but in the end all she could do was to prolong the inevitable. "I-Is not you Ranma. It's me. . .I want the life I share with Daisuke and I love you "at" my side. . .I really want you in my life, but you don't lead where I want to follow. That's the problem I can't find solution to."
"I am still fighting to resolve that issue and make my mind about how should I lead my life, and whether you like it or not, you need to wait a little longer to see if I can walk with you, so to speak." For Ranma, that sliver of hope turned into a possible chance to win her back, but the farther she moved from his grasp, the weaker his feelings for the girl became.
Ranma stopped looking at a spoiled tomboy playing who was the toughest against him, and in her place, a mature young woman irradiated confidence about what she wanted in life. With his still calm demeanor the boy smiled and bobbed his head, accepting the terms and waiting for whenever she would be ready. "Ok Akane. . .We'll do it your way." That answer alone made the girl see him in another perspective, realizing he still had hope to work on a mutual relationship.
"Thank you Ranma. . .I promise not to take too long." After they agreed on something, the boy walked in direction towards the main gym where an improved conference room had been set up for the new students coming overseas. This time though, the male teen slowed down and pulled his hand open behind his back, ready to receive Akane's willing hand on his just like he tried after the Orochi incident.
The place looked much bigger when several dozen chairs and a table at the front were filled with a lot of sport enthusiasts and students. Ranma rushed carefully at his place where five girls dressed in cheerleader outfits and another three guys waved the couple into their group.
"So!. . .This is the famous Akane Tendo. Nice to meet you, I'm Ayame Hamasaki, and these are the cheerleading club members." As she said that, the older boys and girls shook hands while their waiving pom-poms made the girl feel welcomed to their turf.
"We met Ranma-kun during several exercises for the pre-season and the future Olympics. I should mention your boyfriend is participating on every event, including the female side of the games with his curse." Akane found the reason why Ranma was so happy among those boys had been the increasingly acceptance of his female side as part of him instead of a real curse.
They actually embraced him to act as either a girl or a boy with the natural concept of sportsmanship. "I-I see. . .Well, here I am to support our champion!" Cheered the girl in a stale manner compared to the singing tone the group kept buzzing over the blushing teen, and amazingly enough, they kept smiling and even cheered her up into joining them.
When someone tapped the microphone on the front stand, most gossiping sounds died down, forcing the cheerleading group to stop bickering and sit quietly for the presentation. That's when Kenji Endo walked behind the stand.
"Oh!. . .Is Kenji-san. I didn't know he was going to be here." Said excited one of the most attractive volleyball players in the crowd about the speaker. Ranma crooked a brow questioningly until the girl giggled silently at his expression and shoved his surprising looks away. "Oh Ranma. Don't go all jealous on me. . .He is Kenji Endo, a very good. . .Um. . .Friend of the family, yes!. . .A good friend and he always travels around giving speeches."
The pigtailed boy tried to identify foul play in her eyes, but what beat him to the punch was his over-inflated pride fighting her term "being jealous" with his own ego. "I ain' no envious of him!. . .It just surprised me ta see you so giddy for someone as old as him. . ."
Many of the girls who knew the speaker sighed loudly, gaining the blush from the young man, but he only cleared his throat and began to talk about the new division coming to the department, omitting either their roar and Akane's blinking stares altogether. As he mentioned several names, Akane and Ranma saw an all assorted group of men and young women standing for the crowd to applaud.
"These young minds have achieved great records along their colleges and high school units and today, they have enrolled in this year's competitions held in Tokyo University. From this day and forth, many of you will share dorms, friendship and camaraderie towards a better future among different cultures."
As the eloquent young man talked with such powerful words, Ranma couldn't help to look at the new recruits. . .One in special. She wasn't on the team though. No. . .She had become his best friend of sorts and the only girl he respected as a Sensei and a mentor. When he realized how close they were from each other during his presentation, a rush passed into Ranma's mind, forcing the teen to ask demandingly at his still girlfriend if she knew anything about the girl.
"Akane!. . .She is the one!" When the Tendo teen twirl her sight towards Ranma's pointing finger, the surprise couldn't be any bigger. There she was. . .One of the most beautiful girls in the middle of the foreign team, talking with them about something.
Both teens stared mesmerized in the way she moved so gracefully, not to mention those tiny details no man would think of her as another of his gender. "Y-Yes. . .Her name is Ryoki Endo, she is Kenji's cousin." Said Akane dismissively as she tried to keep the boy from looking at her.
"I know. . .We've met several times before an' the first time we did, she told me her name remember?. What I don' get is why I never saw her in the sports team before. . .She is very. . .Um. . .Well, you know." Informed rather embarrassed the pigtailed teen while Akane's face started to get red.
"No Ranma. . .I don't know. Tell me, she is very what?" Asked with venom in her words, but she had to admit at this point a very clear truth. Ryoga actually had worked hard to become what "she" displayed as a girl. The Tendo intern could do nothing but hang her mouth open by the subtle habits Ryoga could pull off with perfect harmony, habits not even she could keep up as a real woman.
She sat with reserved and careful abandon on the chair, with her feet crossed one in front of the other, and making sure the frontal side of her shirt would be loose enough to keep her assets well hidden from view. Every time she would twist or turn to address a question from the guys, she would immediately rearrange her very serious dark-grayed skirt, setting its length just above her knees and doing it without ever opening her legs or cause an alarming dress malfunction most women do when distracted.
In fact. Ryoga had those tiny motions like fixing the undergarment threatening to show on the opening of her blouse, between her shoulder and neck most women do to try and rearrange the cloth line from their bras, and even pull the white cloth from the center of her chest down, forcing closed the tiny openings in between buttons to seal any eavesdropping peek of her white laced bra or her well endowed breasts strategically hidden by the thick white cloth.
Yes. Whatever Midori taught to the fanged teen over all those months turned the Ryoga she knew into a real girl. Akane could find her demeanor so flawless, she felt herself awkwardly more like a real tomboy compared to Ryoga than how she could ever feel over a less macho chick like Ranma's female side. "Is just. . . I don' know. . .So feminine an' beautiful. . ."
Ranma immediately blushed by his sudden outburst, forcing his eyes towards the girl who he thought was going to beat him up, but Akane stared back at him, as if she was plotting mentally a possible solution for a mutual problem. "Um, 'kane. . .Are you alright?" Asked Ranma, increasingly nervous.
The girl shushed him tensely, shoving distractedly at his chest while she stood up but still bent from the torso and up. "Stay here." Asked with tiny whispers. "I'm going to ask her something." Akane paced slowly across the slick floor, showing only her bobbing head to the crowd who was enticed by the good looking man on the stand.
"Hey. . .Psst. . .!" When Ryoga heard the forced call from outside the group, the girl saw startled at Akane who retracted her open hand as an invitation of sorts. "S'il vous plait pardonnez-moi. Bitte enschuldigen Sie mich. . .Por favor me disculpe. . ." Apologized very politely the fanged girl in French, German and Portuguese before walking in a crouch position towards the exit among the foreign students.
Gladly no one had realized the translator had left, specially when Kenji finished his speech and all the crowd applauded into an ovation. Outside though, the two girls began to talk about more important matters affecting both of them.
"Ryoga!. . .I just had a great idea and I think you could pull it off easily." But before she could continue with the conversation Ryoga snarled at her so-called sister, shutting her fast paced blubbering with an angry snarl. "Stop it Akane-san!. . .I need to talk to you about something first."
The sudden change back to a "san" stopped the girl faster than any other way Ryoga could have used, forcing Akane to look attentively at her sister. "Akane. . .Ranma's father paid me a visit this morning and the results weren't very favorable on my part."
She went on about their unfair fight and how he used the moxibustion plus some other type of acupuncture point that unable her from changing back into his original gender. "I'm stuck like this and I don't think he would. . ." Said the fanged girl, but stopped abruptly when a smiley pigtailed boy ran at their side unannounced.
"H-Hey, Ryoki-san. . .H-How's it going?" Asked nervously the teen. As soon as he walked in on them, so did his posse, winning the booing of the group when Akane was on his left and the stunning green-eyed girl on his right. "I think Akane-Chan has competence towards Ranma-kun's heart. Aww!" Singed three of the girls.
"W-What? . . .N-No!. You have it wrong. . .I would never be attracted to that guy. . ." Said the fanged teen defiantly protecting her interests while pointing menacingly at Ranma with an intense blue hued color stamped across her face. "R-Really. . .Why?" Asked the pigtailed boy hurt not only from his pride, but because of the friendship they were creating so far. "S-sorry Ranma-san, but you are engaged to Akane-san. Why would you even ask me that!?"
The girl had a point which Ranma could not debate openly. When everyone waited to see what was going to happen, the well dressed teen grabbed Akane by her wrist, pulling forcibly away from the rest, but falling to the floor in a thud when she was the weaker one ricocheting back from the sudden resistance.
The scene turned much more interestingly when Ryoga took her time like a real lady by bending her knees together, retracting her feet back and covering any open skirt or down blouse threatening any unfavorable or unintended cleavage. There was a point though where her bending feet could raise her so far thanks to the stretching limit her office attire left her with, and that was the moment when the pigtailed boy extended his hand like a gentleman.
Ryoga could do nothing but grab it, pushing herself up with the support of his strongest frame and give Ranma a serious prideful boost by doing so. "T-Thank you Ranma-san. Now, if you excuse me, Akane-san and I need to discuss something in private." Ryoga felt uneasy when Ranma didn't let go immediately, but what scared her the most was the same demeaning stare his eyes scanned her now amber ones, forcing the girl to remember the monster almost kidnapping her baby earlier this morning. This time, the fanged teen waited for a giggling Akane to lead her out of the group, and while doing so the pigtailed boy was forced to let her go and save face towards his fiancée.
A few feet away, both teens talked freely knowing the others wouldn't hear a thing. "Akane!. . .Why are you so happy about this!. . .That idiot of Ranma's father made me into a girl worst than before and I have no strength at all!. . .I don't even dare to feed little Sachi, afraid of her biting gums." Snarled the distressed teen.
Akane could do nothing but laugh out loud, making Ranma and the rest peek in their direction but unable to hear a thing. "I'm sorry sis, but it's just too cute to see you so weak and vulnerable as a woman. Even your way of moving and acting makes you a lot cuter than most "real" girls."
"For the first time I am so jealous of you. It's so hard to accept it after you were my best male friend for the longest time then, you were my loving pet once, and now a sister who steals looks from my boyfriend and other men alike. Ryoki. . .You have become a real woman and a mother a million times better than I could ever be and that hurts. .. It really hurts you know?"
The statement felt so eerie for the fanged girl who never took into account her adopted sister as a rival. All she did was to become what Sachiko needed and the female lessons were meant for the baby when she'd grow up with a female role model only, but there was never an intension to attract men. . .After all, even with all the teachings and practices on her belt, this was just an act. Wasn't.?
The last question lingering in her mind was the most damming when bit by bit Ryoga Hibiki was slowly shed away and Ryoki Endo became the real person. Thoughts like these began to swell deep in the recess of Ryoga's mind which threatened her identity the most.
Ryoga could do nothing but scowl at her instead of taking her jealousy as a complement, sighing defeated next when she had no position to act angry until knowing the real facts. "I never meant to do that Akane, and I'm sorry you feel that way. . .But why would you tell Mr. Saotome about me?" Demanded the fanged translator with hurting eyes. That part didn't bode well in the Tendo intern, finding the accusation offensive and darting her finger up to her nose decidedly, changing completely her demeanor into a bursting fountain of anger.
"I did no such thing Ryo. . .Um. . .Ryoki!" Screamed loudly again the teen, startling the others but still keeping the group on the far side of the block. "I called Kasumi because she was so concerned with little Sachiko's health status. I explained her about. . .Oh no!" Finally dawned in the girl when her elder sister said the conversation wasn't safe at the end of the chat.
"That's what she meant!. . .Mr. Saotome must have been hiding and heard what I told Kasumi Onee-Chan, That's why he came at you so angry!. . .Oh sis. . .I'm so sorry. I never meant to cause you and my niece so much troubles." She suddenly slumped into a depressive state which was visibly seen by the others.
Ranma immediately ran at her side, wondering why the change in her mood, but Akane knew that meant more trouble for her sister, so she asked the boy to wait back while she tried fix the problem, if that was even possible. "Listen sis. . .The Moxibustion scroll is at home and the other attack he did was created by Cologne. I think he and Ranma copied its effects and mimicked the move. Let me ask Ranma and maybe we can reverse it."
Ryoga thought that carefully, but any resemblance the pigtailed boy could see between Ryoga and her alter ego was going to end up with Sachiko's secret and she wasn't ready to deal with that problem just yet. "No!. . .Please, sis. Find out about both points and help me, but don't involve Ranma. I need to stay away from his father and if he helps, I'm sure his father will find out sooner or later about my daughter. . .A-And besides. . .Ranma could discover my baby is his. . ."
"And what if he does?. . .Remember what we talked Ryo-Chan. I know you have suffered a lot on your own, but Ranma needs to see his daughter as well." Ryoga shook with fear, rejecting the idea and begging the girl to be quiet about it with the hope to give her more time. "P-Please Akane. Do this for me and I swear to never ask you anything else ever again."
Again, Akane had to roll her eyes and accept for the good of her new sister, but she decided to tell Ranma if the fanged girl wouldn't, that was a self imposed promise. Two heavily situations hanged from each other in Akane's eyes. . .Ryoga deserved to keep and raise her niece which ever way she wanted, but the Tendo teen could see some struggle Ranma hid as best as possible, but still clear for those who knew him closely and whether Ryoga wanted to admit or not, a simple solution for those two dilemmas were easily at her reach.
"I will be silent about this Ryo. . .But if you don't tell him soon. I will." With that last warning both teens rejoined the group just as Kenji walked from the gym and towards the crowd. "Ryo. . .Em, Ryoki. . .Ready to go?"
"Yes cousin. . .We need to head home now." Replied rather sweetly the girl. When they bid their farewells and started out of campus, Ranma decided to take Ryoki's flimsy hand firmly, stopping the girl on her tracks and forcing her trembling eyes against his. "W-Wait Ryoki-san . . .I thought we were friends!"
Ryoga felt the pressure on her hand too intense, mostly by the enormous weakness from the Moxibustion technique, but it was clear Ranma pressed his hand more than usual, maybe trying to make a point?. When she stared at the hurt boy, his eyes flared with painful confusion. She felt sorry for him and a tinge of remorse began to swell in her heart.
Even Akane felt awkward up to this point from all the secrets they hid, but all this guilt was abruptly thrown off by the same pitiful teen and his bigger than life mouth. "It hurts to hear that. We all know Akane and I are fiancés but it ain't wrong to like other people like friends. . .Tell me. How am I not your type?" Asked the teenage athlete while flexing his muscles and gaining the cheers from his club.
Akane and Ryoga sweat-dropped at the display, finding rather disappointing the real reason of his delusion, but finding certain behavior between the lines on his demeanor. "We are um. . .Friends Ranma-san, but what I meant is. . .I-Is that I have a. . .Um, a boyfriend!, yes. . .A boyfriend, and I don't think he'd like me to say such things as attraction for another boy."
The girl was clearly shaking by the situation, and Ranma could see how physically vulnerable she was when his hand grabbed hers, not to mention the enormous lie the girl blubbered maybe because of Akane or the other girls present. "I-I see. . .But you like me, right?" The question was more than what the girl could withstand under so much pressure, forcing Ryoga to seek help, but finding none around.
She turned to see her sister hoping she would be ready to pound the boy with that famous mallet like she always does, but none of that came either. Instead, Akane tilted her head with puzzled eyes, waiting for the fanged girl to say what she feared the most, intriguing Ryoga to no end about their personal relationship. "I-I. . .I do like you Ranma-san." Declared forcibly the teen with clenched teeth and an over acted smile.
"I knew it!. . .Ahem. I mean, I know Akane is my girl, but I always knew how handsome and irresistible I am to other girls. I guess is in the genes. . ." Ayame and the cheerleading squad yelled in unison so harmonically others began to gather around to see their routines while the pigtailed boy would pose charismatically among the teens.
The more they chanted with their pom-poms and batons flying all over the place, the more inflated Ranma's ego got, finding Ryoga so inexplicably fast to change her dumb demeanor into a raging fit of anger. The pigtailed athlete stood there smiling and winking right and left, forcing Ryoga to remember a fleeting memory into her head about all the sleepless nights and painful cries over an almost dead baby.
That's when the fanged translator walked forward decidedly and planted a loud slap on his cheek. "Aah!" Screamed the girl as she grabbed her aching palm with her other hand. Ranma was very impressed by her lack of strength matching adoringly with her feminine frame. . .Even those pretty green eyes he found captivating had turned amber by the anger, he thought.
Ranma immediately grabbed both her hands, rubbing carefully the affected area while his blue orbs searched something missing between the two teens. "You know Ryoki-san. . .You remind me someone very close ta me." Ranma looked into the horizon a second later, and ignoring the struggles Ryoga made to slip away from him, he sighed tiredly.
"He is a very good friend whose life played a cruel trick in his lonely existence, an' ta make matters worse I haven' seen him lately ta explain my side of the story." Those words flicked something in the trapped girl, something telling her maybe what Akane wanted wasn't so crazy. After all, Ranma was the mother and she was entitled to the baby's existence.
Suddenly he went back to the old pigtailed boy, winking ever so slyly and rubbing with long and slick strokes a hand which trembled with fear. "But ain't we all tricked by life sometimes baby?. . .I'm so handsome is hard to keep most girls piling up to be with me you know."
"I think he is just jealous of my magnetic personality if you ask me." That pretty much killed the mood. Ryoga did an extra-human effort and finally pulled her hand, which she used to slap the boy again. "Aah!" Came the scream, but it was so worth it anyway.
When Ranma went again towards her painful limbs, the girl ran behind Akane, using the Tendo intern as a shield away from her menacing foe trying to console her with perverted eyes. "Stop!. . .I-I mean, I have to go now Ranma-san, it was so nice to see you again and I hope you can behave during our study sessions. . .I don't want to tell on your girlfriend if you don't. . ." Warned the girl half serious, half nervously.
"Y-You offered to mentor his studies?. . .Willingly?, I thought you didn't like him." Asked puzzled Akane at the girl hiding behind. "I couldn't help it sis. Most foreign students found out about his curse and they bully him a lot. . .I. . .I-I felt bad for him and when the Dean told me he wouldn't last too long thanks to his low grades I felt I had to do something."
Akane began to see a pattern now. The girl found for some reason solace in Daisuke and her new way of life, freeing herself from an imposed future she never wanted to begin with, and the worst outcome from her final decision was going to destroy Ranma's feelings, but this. . .This could work no matter how incredible it sounded or looked.
It was as if someone pulled the ropes of fate and fixed whatever gets broken in life. As if a hidden being was trying to mend what happened to either her personal life or Ranma's incident with the now very much fanged girl. "Well sis. . .I guess Ranma will be in your life whether you want it or not. . ." Sarcastically replied the girl to her foster sister.
The cheering squad and Kenji waved again as the two parties began to walk apart while Ryoga rushed at his side. "So, I trust everything went smoothly and he didn't find out about Ryoga?" The girl assented with his suspicions, telling him some things needed to change before he would do so.
"I need to talk with Midori and preferably move to another part of town. . .Who knows, even after knowing I can walk without getting lost thanks to my daughter, I could go back to my old house." The thought made Kenji roll his eyes, certain his wife will make him move again but what startled him the most was his place in Ryoga's life. "Wait!. . .Shouldn't you discuss this with us first?" Ryoga saw his point, apologizing honestly by her lack of consideration. "I'm sorry Kenji-san. I will talk with you and her. Maybe we can decide what would be best for our family."
They kept walking almost out of reach and into the University's gate when the guard protecting the entrance stopped them from leaving. "Mr. Endo, if you please. . .Could you wait here for a moment. I just received a phone call from the sports department and they are looking for you.'
Both the speaker and the beautiful assistant agreed to wait until the guard could contact the others. When the man in uniform hanged the phone after a few minutes later, he gave the temporary identification pass back to the green-eyed teen, asking the man to leave if he needed.
"The head of the sport department has asked some of the principal council to let Miss. Endo as guidance counselor for the new foreign students. . .Some of them seem a bit slow on their Japanese and they want her with them every time there's an event." Informed the guard to the girl.
"Well Ryoga. . .Would you like me to stay with you or leave?" The teen thought about it carefully, taking into account another possible meeting with the pigtailed boy, but this was an official assignment and Ryoga wanted to be by her daughter first and foremost.
"This should easy. Kenji-san, why don't you go and get Midori-Chan and Sachi and wait for me here. . .I promise to be brief." The man had his doubts as well, specially when his cursed friend wanted nothing to do with that Saotome boy.
"Ok. . .I should be here in about an hour, see you then." Both bid farewell for the moment and as he started for the exit, the natural swaying on the girl's hips were the most enthralling hypnosis men could be glued at as she made her way to the main gym.
When she arrived, thankfully another class mate welcomed Ryoga into the group. He was Maseru Minami, the head master in the Judo club. "Hello Miss Endo. I am in charge of the new group, but we seem to have some differences about the arrangements. . .Would you be so kind to help us out?"
The teen smiled and bowed before her polite guide, following him into the court where the others argued with the local team. "I don't know what happened Senpai. One second we are fine and all of a sudden they are blubbering and fighting among each other." Said one of the students.
Ryoga found the "Senpai" title a bit too official, but since she was regarded as a teacher's aid, the name they used fitted perfectly. Ryoga walked near the older boys and girls fighting over something but unable to reach common ground until the fanged girl heard the discussion.
It seemed some of the students were able to understand either German or French, but they were talking strangely in a kanji form adapted in a western European style. Skillfully enough, the fanged teen sped up on their fight, answering on their own language sets every time a question was raised.
At the end of the argument, all young men and women bowed respectfully before the local team and the Judo master. "I'm sorry Mr. Minami. . .I believe they are nervous because of their Japanese Language proficiency test coming this next week."
"They have studied the Idiom for almost a year but they haven't perfected it yet. I will be assisting the foreign team until they can adapt to the area." Maseru found the younger girl incredibly smart, not to mention beautiful, making the older boy blush slightly across his nose as he walked closer to Ryoga.
"M-Miss Endo. . .Now that everything has been resolved, would you like to take a cup of tea with me?" The question startled Ryoga, finding his interest not related to school business rather unprofessional, but mostly irritating when she wasn't a real girl. "L-Let's leave that for later Mr. Minami. . .Right now I need to attend these boys."
The bigger man agreed with her decision, taking the invitation for another day. After a while both Ryoga and the foreign students left the gym empty when she decided to show them the dorms and campus before meeting them the next day.
Back with Akane and Ranma, the pigtailed boy did his usual theater acting meekly and talking dumbly about the incident to his fiancée. His shenanigans made the girl scoff his infidelity away, mostly because she needed Ryoga for two very important things.
Firstly, Ranma liked the girl more than he let on and secondly, both teens have a beautiful baby girl tying their lives. "Who knows" she thought. "If I decide to be with Daisuke, I want Ranma to be happy with someone who'll love him like he deserves it".
Both teens walked back with the cheerleading club, discussing their schedule for the day while Ryoga walked several feet away on the opposite direction. "So 'kane. . .What are you in the mood for?" Asked the boy like if nothing had happened, which was another negative point against his case.
The girl faked her full attention on her boyfriend's ranting, but her own mind raced towards the brawl between her two lovers and she knew Ranma was the loosing horse. "He is sweet and tries hard, but not hard enough. I mean, I'm no prized trophy that's for sure, but he acts so selfishly when it comes to other girls."
"I know when I come back with Dai his demeanor alone will enchant me and that's what I'm afraid the most. How can you fight something you love and live without at the same time. . .It's just impossible." With a sad look, the girl gave Ranma the only answer he feared even more at this point. . .A long look of deception telling his subconscious the way he acted actually affected his chances with her.
"Akane. . .I-I. . .I was just kiddin' I swear!. . .I. . ." But nothing came next when the girl changed suddenly to her cheery face and a hand brushed away a tear from her eyes. "Don't worry just yet Ranma, but I got to go Ok?. . .There is a project I've been leaving for later and Daisuke needs to keep me up to speed with homework."
The girl pecked him on the cheek, walking after towards the lab where her studying partner awaited patiently. Ranma refused to give up just yet and he paced hastily behind. That's when two cops walked in the opposite direction with tasers on hand and speaking of a certain someone a few blocks away.
"Yes man. You wouldn't believe this crazed old man camping on the edges of campus and hitting on the female students. Kenny says he used one of the water hoses to push him away and a giant panda wearing glasses came out of the tent. . .Can you believe it!?"
Ranma grumbled quietly, but he knew who they were talking about and those electric devices looked painful enough against a lazy old man. "See you guys at practice." Waved the pigtailed teen at his team. "I got ta help that poor man right now." Finished lastly while he rushed into the limits of campus and his club walked away, finding his altruistic mood refreshing.
"Go for it Ranma!. . .We'll be waiting for you. . ." As they left the gym back, Ranma stomped towards the direction the guards aimed and pressed his steps trying to avoid more trouble. "damn it pops!. . .Why would you be here at all?"
By the time Ranma reached the limits of Campus the cops were still a few miles away. He arrived into the old tent where he spent many years living on the road and now it threatened yet another chance for a normal life among humans. "Hey!. . .Pops. Are you in there?" Yelled the teen angry. From within the opening, a bald man with glasses peeked his head out, recognizing his son with glad eyes.
"There you are m'boy!. You know. It's hard to ask people 'round here 'bout you." The boy bared his clenching teeth and a raised fist into the air, explaining his way to ask wasn't so polite among civilized students. "Anyway. . Why are you here?"
That's the cue the father waited to jump from the tent and grab Ranma's shoulders. "Son. . .I know 'bout what happened between that Hibiki boy an' you." That statement alone froze his veins and turned him blue from head to toe.
Ranma waited to be disowned or beaten to a pulp, but his father looked proud at some level, finding his demeanor very intriguing. "W-Why aren' you freakin' up pops?" The question alone begged for the man to act and punish him, but instead Genma dropped one clenched fist to the side, leaving the other firmly grasping his shoulder and shouting to the winds his misplaced ego.
"I know is hard to decide these days boy, but if it was an accident what are goin' ta do right?. . .Anyway. I already dealt with Ryoga and there's nothin' opposin' you marriage with Akane-chan." Finally said with a smile stamped on the old man's features.
"W-What did you do!?" Demanded this time Ranma, knowing how much of an idiot his father was when revenge was on the line. "Oh m'boy. . .Don' worry 'bout that. . .Ryoga Hibiki won't be a problem for you in the future. . .I made certain of it." When he reassured him something nasty had been done, the pigtailed teen exploded, forcing a slap from his grasping hand away and pointing a ferocious finger against his nose, advising the man to leave.
"You an' I are talkin' about what happened ta Ryoga later Pops!. . .In the meantime get out of here. There are security guards comin' this way an' they can do stuff you can' protect from, either 'cuse you are a martial artist and trespassing private property, or those electrical things will reach you before you try anythin' . . ."
Genma saw not only his warning wish for him to leave, but hatred for what he had done to that cursed girl. With no other thought across his mind, the father picked his tent and walked away without fixing it into the pack.
"Fine you ungrateful son. . .I will leave, but even if you want ta fix somethin' with Ryoga, I made sure that pervert would never see you again." With that last warning the man jumped the fence and left campus before the guards arrived.
Ranma kept his words close within his mind, realizing why the fanged boy was never around even when Akane told him he was in campus as well. "Damn it. I don' know what he did, but I got to see him an' explain everything."
Walking back to the gym, the teen meditated about that faithful day. Ranma as a girl and free from his pregnancy saw the pain deep in his friend's eyes. He refused to blame him for what had happened to their baby and although his ego as a male always made him do stupid things, the girl in him wanted so desperately to cheer him up.
"I can' take this no more. . .If I don' tell Akane the truth, I am goin' ta explode." As he thought this the sports gym building loomed just a few feet away. Surprisingly enough so did Ryoki walking into the building accompanied with one of the tougher looking students in his group.
"Since 'kane ain't here an' she is alone. I think it would be best for me to keep an eye on her." Said the teen, trying to convince himself more than what his fiancée could object. Ranma stepped lively after the girl went in, hoping to establish a better relationship after the way she treated him earlier.
Before he could enter, the boy found Ayame nervously waiting by the door, as if she dreaded something bad was about to happen. "Hey Aya, what's goin' on?" Asked Ranma rather carelessly at the cheerleader. "I'm waiting for you!. . .Inside is the new foreign team talking nonsense, but so is Maseru-san who's the team leader and remember what happened the last time between you two?"
How could he forget when Ranma had defeated the University's Judo champion who had been recognized nationally, and in front of his peers. "Actually, I came ta see if Miss Endo is Ok. . .I don' care if he's there or not."
The cheerleader couldn't comprehend the casual way her strange friend acted, realizing his ego was just like that blue haired teen described. "Just forget it. . .Miss Endo is with him and I just heard him asking her out. Why don't we just leave them alone and go with the rest of the club?"
That bit of information was something Ranma cared for some reason. After he dismissed the girl politely, the pigtailed boy walked purposely towards the pair who were about to leave with the overseas group. "Hey Miss Endo. . .Can I have a word with you?" Asked rather nonchalantly the boy, as if he was showing off to the boys the close relationship between the teens.
Ryoga knew they would meet eventually, but she had official matters to attend and after the invitation out by the Judo master, the girl had her head already set in angry mode. "Please Ranma-san, I'm here as a tutor for these group and I will be showing them the premises before I leave the grounds. . .Can't it wait for tomorrow during our sessions?"
The pigtailed teen was about to accept her pressing rain check until he saw a demeaning smile stamped on the Judo master. "You heard her. . .Get out of here, "boy". . ." The way he asked him to leave made Ranma snarl and walk decidedly towards the bigger man, comparing their sizable difference in stature and readying for another unscheduled match.
"I'm gettin' tired of yer attitude pal. I think is time for me ta put you back in yer place. . ." Ranma raised a fist ready to fight him until a timid set of hands barely held him back. "Ranma!. . .Stop it alright!?" The girl apologized for his behavior, explaining at the Judo master how hotheaded was the boy most of the time.
After Ryoga asked the team and Maseru to give her a minute with the boy, she pulled him with all the strength she had left towards the corner, away from their ears. "Why did you apologize Ryoki-san!. . .He's been tryin' ta bully me since I started here?"
The girl tried to put this as delicate as possible, but as a teacher's aid, the girl learned many things from certain students who found his curse a serious threat against their male ego. "Listen Ranma-san. You became a star over night thanks to those abilities you learned as a martial artist, but don't be fooled. You came and stirred the competitiveness among the better athletes who thought they were superior to the rest of the students around here."
She described him under an oath of secrecy how the headmaster found the coach very receptive at the idea to see him as a mere mascot of sorts, using his female form more like a way to demean his underlings and his male enthusiastic self to keep the girls in check, but nothing more. "Ranma. Kenji's wife and other teachers have been requested to attend a meeting with the headmaster. . .Apparently your curse and the type of martial arts "the Anything goes style" offers are like cheating in an official tournament. Do you know what this means?"
Ranma didn't want to see it, but his new found friend was right. He felt cornered not only by the possible dismissal of his grant to assist as a sports athlete, but there were other concerns he really needed to let out no matter with whom.
"I-I know what you mean Ryoki-san, an' I know is mostly my fault by showing off against those other fighters but. . ." The girl saw him so desperate by something, forcing Ryoga to pat his shoulder and try to cheer him up against her better wishes to keep a safe distance instead.
"Don't worry Ranma-san. I will talk in your behalf on this coming meeting, but in the meanwhile you need to tone it down against other strong or fast students you think you can outsmart during the training sessions." In that precise moment there was a flimsy spark between the two, Ryoga watching a fearless yet vulnerable redhead through those blue eyes, and the pigtailed teen a girl willing to bet her career for his sake. Ranma found no words to thank her, leaving only a simple gesture he did without even thinking it.
When Ryoga felt his hands grab hers, she knew what was coming next. "R-Ranma. . .Let go. I have to be some place else and they are waiting for me." The boy sensed some understandable hesitation from his tutor, exciting his already ego and after she couldn't take her hands away, the boy lunged towards her face, pecking his lips slightly over her own trembling mouth.
The Judo master couldn't contain himself after watching the boy stealing his "supposedly girlfriend", walking with thundering steps towards the teens in the precise moment Ryoga peeked over and saw him coming her way. "Damn. . .This idiot is going to get in trouble again. . .I have to do something." The girl had to defuse the situation fast and with all her strength, she managed to pull a hand, slapping him yet, a third time that day while faking an angry fit of indignity. "What the hell are you doing!?" Asked irritated the bigger man to a boy who found himself lost by the sudden act of self defense.
"Leave him Mr. Minami. . .We have better things to do and yes!. . .I would love to have a cup of tea with you after we take the students to their dorms." Replied the girl trying to defuse the situation and stay away from the boy she hated so much.
Ranma saw how the group left in a group led by the Judo master and the pretty translator, but the sensation to touch her warm and trembling lips lingered on his own afterwards with such effect, the teen stopped staring at them. He touched them with the tip of his fingers instead and realized if he would loose Akane during his personal struggles, maybe Ryoki could fill this void. After his wandering mind reacted back into reality, the pigtailed teen walked behind them at a distance just in case his new friend would get in trouble with the jealous fighter.
Back on the science department, a tired Akane Tendo arrived where Daisuke waited patiently. "Hey. . ." Greeted the girl with her hands resting on her bent knees, puffing tiredly by the sprint. "Why are you in a rush Akane-san?" Asked her lab partner without realizing the big mistake he had committed. . .But there it was again, noticed the girl while throwing daggers at the boy.
She began to see a pattern about people demonstrating their distrust or anger by simply calling her back into a "san" title and that really tested her patience when all she had done over the past weeks is find a peaceful solution to this madness. "No fair!. . .I am trying to juggle "my" feelings for the both of you without harming either, and in the end I get demoted to "Akane-san" again!?"
The girl looked so deeply distressed, Daisuke felt bad for using that card so abruptly. The young intern wrapped his arms around the girl, rubbing the back of her neck with care as his pleading eyes begged for a chance to rephrase his welcoming greeting. "I'm sorry Akane. . .Chan. I really am." The brunette used his other hand to brush the loose strain of hair falling over her eyes, hiding the timid looks from her indecision and creating a closer eye contact between the two.
Free from her hidden place, she stared at those brown orbs looking firmly at the girl while hers threatened to spill their salty droplets uncaringly, but his lips hovering across her nose made Akane ticklish, giving her a sensation of well being and innocence. "It's hard for me to say it, but I am jealous you know?" The teen walked Akane into the lab, but stopped near the vending machines before starting a new day full of homework and assignations he knew they would separate their love life from more pressing studies.
"I love you, and even when you try to spare "us" the pain, we still have it. I am giving you time to sort your feelings, but do the same for me please. . .Is really hard to stay on the sidelines and watch Ranma have you all for himself."
That was the part increasing his chances in her heart, or at least he hoped. Akane wanted, no. . .Needed understanding and support which were foreign sensations for the pigtailed teen's idea of real romance. Was Ranma able to offer that in an environment where she would be a faithful wife and a tireless mother like Ryoga demonstrated so far?. Akane's thoughts darted at her sister, recalling and seeing all the sacrifices she took with no remorse for the after effects, and all for her baby.
She would have done the same, or at least she told herself that, but honestly. She wanted to be a scientist. Have a husband who would grow old teaching classes or treating patients in a fancy hospital. . .Who knows, maybe even be a mother in a home filled with professionals, but that wasn't really the point.
The point is that she wanted to be anything by her own strength. Ranma's wife is just that. A second rate human being shadowed by an egotistical boy who loved attention and craved recognition. "That does it!" Spoke freely the girl, arriving to a decision based on what she desired. "I have chosen and I chose you Dai."
Her sudden change of mind made the boy queasy, stopping his love interest from doing something rash out of desperation and to think it better over the time she had left. "Not yet Akane. You know I miss you, but I want to be at your side because we care about each other, and not because my fancy words convinced you of my intentions."
"I know You and Ranma aren't over, and despite my need to have you all to myself, you need to choose truly for what you want. Don't go to him or deal with me until you know what your hearts tells you." Once again, after the boy pecked her on the forehead and left Akane back alone, the youngest Tendo began to realize his words weren't the force behind her ultimate decision, but what she really wanted was in the same path Daisuke stood on.
"H-Hey!. . .Wait for me!" Demanded rashly the girl as she made her way into the lab and began the heavy trails to be a grade "A" student.