Chapter 20

(10 hours passed)

"Is that all you got, Ranko?"

Ranko jumped to her feet after being kicked in the gut.

"Not even close." she replied to her zanpakuto.

Kintora smirked "Hmm. We'll see. Your making some improvement on your base reserves and your skill, but not seriously enough. Your powers as a soul reaper are lacking."

Ranko said non-chalantly "Haven't had much experience in that to be quite honest."

Kintora smiled "I know. That's why I think you fail. Want to prove me right?"

Ranko picked up the next weapon, a pair of sais.

"Nope." was her response. "I'm a speed learner. For example, I figured out from the beginning there was a slight lie in what you said to me."

Kintora looked slightly perplexed "Hmm?"

"You said one of these blades is you, and that I have to find the right one out of all of them that can beat you. Isn't that what you said?"

Kintora said neutrally "That's true."

"Obviously not." Ranko pointed out to everyone of the weapons. "Everyone of these would make a good weapon for a child, but I know that the only real weapon that can defeat me isn't one of them...it's all of them!"

Kintora's eyes narrowed. Tessai gasped.

"With every weapon I'm hitting you, I'm attacking my own weapon with, so I need to chip you away, with every single blade here, while you do the same, until there is no weak weapon standing between you and me. Only then, will I find the real you."

Kintora slowly smiled "So you figured that much on your own huh? Very well then." Kintora said as he put on a pair of iron gloves with a Crane kung fu insignia on his fists. "Here I come...Ranko!"

Kintora struck with both speed and power, placing lightning fast, well balanced fists and kicks keeping Ranko on the defensive.

Kintora roared in annoyance "This is pathetic Ranko. How do you expect to keep up with me as a soul reaper if you can't even perform a single flash step!"

Kintora rushed forward with a lightning thrust, when suddenly Ranko disappeared.

Kintora's eyes raised upwards. Ranko had flash stepped away and upward, and was coming down with her sai's screaming "You know better than anyone to tempt fate with me, Kintora!"

Ranko came down hard as Kintora blocked with his arm guards. Ranko roared "I will not be told what I can or cannot do, no matter how many ways I'm limited!"

Both of their weapons broke as they broke away from each other. Kintora looked at Ranko, realizing his master was not to be underestimated by any term of 'power.'

Ranko then muttered just loud enough so that Kintora could hear.

"Did you really think that I wasn't carefully observing Ashido's flash steps when he trained me?"

Ranko then yelled at her sword "If my skill is inadequate, I'll increase my skill. If I cannot increase my skill, I'll increase my power. Then my focus. Then my strategy. Then anything else I am capable of! People who only talk about levels of power mean absolutely nothing to me. Even if you're a thousand times stronger than me Kintora, I'll still find a way to defeat you. So cut this bullshit about my capabilities and keep your guard up. If your my sword and you still don't understand how far I will go to win, you should be happy I'm hindered like this!"

Ranko grabbed some dragon kung fu gauntlets and strapped them on, and finished "It means you won't be completely outmaneuvered by me when this is over."

Kintora smiled and even chuckled for a second "I'm sorry I forgot for a second, Ranko. Scarier then spiritual power, both you and Ranma are such...unpredictable people!" picking up an axe and jumping at Ranko. "Yaaaaaaaa!"

…,

(22 hours passed)

All of the warriors had stopped for a four hour break period, excluding Ranko, who had two hours more to finish her first day. However she decided to stay separate from the others, since she didn't want to move or else she'd turn back into an arrancar.

A few hours later, after taking a shower, Yoruichi went over to Konatsu in the training area, who was meditating between training.

"Konatsu?"

Konatsu turned around in surprise "Yes, Yoruichi-sama?"

Yoruichi gave some friendly advice to a fellow ninja, "You made some good progress in combat today, but I can tell your specialty is using a ninja sword, not direct hand-to-hand like Ranma. Why didn't you practice with it? And don't give me the excuse using weapons when I'm using hand-to-hand, cause Mousse uses a lot of weapons even during training."

Konatsu looked embarrassed "Oh well...I was actually afraid I might break it in such intense training." He then showed her his sword.

Yoruichi looked surprised at the cheap piece of shit sword "You're going to go into battle with only a ninja sword made of bamboo?"

Konatsu smiled sheepishly "I no longer have my old ninja sword. I uhh...accidentally pawned it. But it doesn't matter, I'd fight with a small stick if I had too. I can still cut a tree in half with the blade, and I once knocked Ranma out with it. That counts for something right?"

Yoruichi sighed, thinking to herself "He may have talent, but this person has no sense of self preservation whatsoever. Oh well, got to give him something so he doesn't get himself killed." She suddenly said "Hang on for a second."

"Huh?" Konatsu questioned.

Yoruichi turned around and suddenly disappeared using shunpo.

Yoruichi reappeared in about 10 seconds. She was holding something in an old cloth.

She handed the object to him and said "Here, take this for training and when you go to Hueco Mundo. You may need it."

Konatsu unwrapped the cloth and gasped. Under it was a brilliant Japanese ninja blade. The hilt was simplistic yet elegant, and the metal it was made of a dark purple metal.

Konatsu was beside himself "What is this magnificent blade Yoruichi-sama!"

Yoruichi explained "This is a blade owned by my family. Most swords where I come from are unique to the individual, and practically come from their souls. However there are certain fighters and certain bloodlines that do not create swords even at a high level." She thought to herself, "Like some very specialized hand to hand types like myself and the kido corps."

She then continued "This is one of the few weapons where I come from that were crafted with great strength for either sealing or ceremonial purposes. I want you to use it. It might fit well with your abilities."

Konatsu was beyond excited "I can't thank you enough Yoruichi-sama! But won't you need this?" he said humbly.

Yoruichi said non-chalantly, "I've never used it much really, it's an old family heirloom. I'm a complete hand to hand expert myself. Trust me, it'll serve better use in your hands then mine."

Konatsu was ecstatic "Thank you so much! I better put my old sword away."

He then brought out a medium sized sack out of his shirt and opened it up. It was filled with all sorts of odds and ends, such as shurikens, kunai and ninja scrolls.

Yoruichi looked at his ninja bag. She commented "Are those ninja scrolls you were given from your family?"

Konatsu immediately started laughing. "Hahahahaha!"

Yoruichi looked confused "What's so funny?"

Konatsu forced himself to start laughing. "Sorry, it's just that...only one of the scrolls I inherited from my REAL family. The family that raised me for most of my life barely lent me a nice piece of bread, let alone an old scroll. No… I decided to steal these scrolls of ninja techniques from them after they tried to kill my friends and me. They couldn't use the more advanced ones anyway."

More than a little perturbed by her harsh history, she changed subject and asked "They couldn't? Why?"

Konatsu looked uncomfortable, as if trying to block an bad mental image, "I'd rather not go into it. It's a rather disgusting subject."

Yoruichi pointed out at one of the scrolls in his satchel that had a very old symbol on it "What's that one? Can I see it?"

Konatsu answered nervously when she pointed to the scroll, "T-this one? Alright, but please be careful with it. This is the one scroll that I inherited from my real parents."

"I'll be gentle with it I promise", Yoruichi answered. Konatsu slowly nodded and Yoruichi looked through the scroll.

Her eyes quickly widened, "This is-"

"The actual result I didn't understand, but I've been training to use this technique every day since my father gave it to me. I still couldn't grasp it or even understand the power until I gained temporary reitsu while fighting Ranma when I ate that old medicine. But I still don't know how to fully grasp it even now that I have found my own power."

Yoruichi was silent for a long time, both during and after perusing the scroll.

Yoruichi finally said "Konatsu, do you think you can train privately with me, 2 hours extra before the others start again?"

Konatsu looked surprised and stuttered "O-of course. But why?"

"Something that might give you an edge in battle. Something you might need to survive. To survive and save your friends."

Konatsu nodded instantly "Then I accept this training eagerly."

"Very well. Get prepared soon, Konatsu."

Yoruichi walked away from Konatsu, leaving him to admire the new blade. After about 50 feet, Tessai walked up to Yoruichi.

"Tessai?"

The tall man said "Are you sure you want to give up such a sacred relic to someone you just met?

Yoruichi nodded "Yeah I'm sure. I've never felt any attachment to any of them, and if they can help in any way to the upcoming fights, they'll be much more useful than just sitting in my random belongings pile. I have no need for a bunch of ancient weapons and items just lying around forever. There's a lot more at stake here and I'm not going to feel protective of anything that trivial. I've got to believe we can succeed on at least one front. Either stop Aizen here and now while saving Rukia, and measuring the power of the arrancar compared to soul society."

Tessai nodded "Very well."

Yoruichi asked "By the way, can you tell me how Ranko is doing in her training?"

Tessai nodded and said "I just finished my first 22 hours with her. Ranko-dono is currently resting in the hot spring you and Urahara-dono created for Bankai training. Her starting point was slow, but her improvement in power and form is coming along remarkably. Still, I worry she might not make it at the end. She is very off balance having to do this without her original powers. The sheer complexity and difficulty of it is almost as advanced as Urahara's, and yet the intensity of her sword is about as intense as Ichigo's, from what I felt from his blade when he summoned it. It will be a near impossible task."

Yoruichi nodded "Understood." She was fully aware that this was going to be in some ways far harder than Urahara's test or even Ichigo's test, if he managed to get that far in soul society, which she fully intended to make sure he did. But Yoruichi's gut told her that Ranko wasn't going to be conquered by this test.

Suddenly Urahara appeared with a flash step, and chimed in "That's only natural, after all. However, mastering the abilities of a soul reaper will only increase her chances of winning, if she can withstand the entire training."

Yoruichi said "Ah there you are Kisuke." Yoruichi noticed that Urahara looked more tired than usual.

Urahara asked before she could say anything, "How is the trio your training coming?"

Yoruichi explained "Konatsu has good speed and attacks, but his reserves are not nearly as high as the others. Still he is improving at a more then acceptable rate."

"Mousse is getting better with the level of intensity of his attacks and he's got good reserves, but his speed, form and overall strength need work. I don't feel he's really grasped the real level of power he's capable of yet. He lacks instinct right now."

"Tofu's improving slowly, but he's already at a level of skill that surpasses most 3rd seats, and he can do attacks from Spiritual Enhanced Pressure Point Attacks, to creating a Concentrated Palm Blast of Energy, and even creating an 3 foot Energy Blade from his hand. If I don't take him seriously later in his training, he might actual be able get the drop on me, depending on how well he uses the spiritual energy around him, not to mention my own. His flexibility of power seems to reflect his flexibility as a doctor."

Urahara smiled and offered "Similar to a Quincy, no?"

She nodded "Pretty much." Yoruichi continued "I still feel reluctant about sending them to Hueco Mundo, but they've got their skill, their wits, and I feel they still have far more power than they've realized yet. What about the rivals, especially Ranma himself?"

Urahara answered cheerfully, "Ranma-kun and Ryoga-san? They're quite a fearsome duo. It's been a while since I've had to use Benihime's actual abilities in succession." He explained "Ryoga-san has intense power and reserves and his form, while not perfect, is very well trained. His weakness is his speed so far, he still cannot completely block or dodge any of my attacks that involve shunpo. Even though I can feel he can do it, he needs to control his reitsu better to become fast even with that massive weapon and build of his. He's still a lot faster than I originally expected."

"And Ranma?"

Urahara smiled "He's quite a scary training partner. While his spiritual power is still not properly tempered yet, his strength speed and skill make him a paragon of attack power. I've had to fight him head on more than a few times. While his single weapon skill needs work, I must admit, he'll likely surpass me in hand-to-hand in the next day or so, if he hasn't already."

Yoruichi crossed her arms chastisingly "That's because you've let you hand-to hand combat wane most of all."

"True true." Urahara said casually. "Now should we check on Ranko?"

Yoruichi shook her head no "I don't think so. She's not the type that needs supervision. Tessai will be there when she needs to start up again."

Urahara lowered his hat and said with a tired smile, "In every single way, we all have our work cut out for us."

…,

(30 hours passed)

For the second day of their training, Urahara had asked Cologne and Happosai to observe and assist the young martial artists in areas that they need improvements in while enforcing and polishing their spiritual and physical abilities.

Fights were now tag team type battles, where it would be one on one and another martial artist would step in if one was clearly unable to respond to the next attack. In turn, Yoruichi would only go at 50%, and Urahara would not release his zanpakuto.

The third day would be an all out brawl.

Mousse, Dr. Tofu, and Konatsu were continuing to train with Yoruichi while Cologne was advising them on their fighting abilities.

Konatsu was flash stepping around, trying to catch up to Yoruichi's movements with only mild success. When Yoruichi finally stopped for a second, Konatsu quickly swung with his sword, but Yoruichi to his surprise caught it bare handed.

"What?"

"Too soft Konatsu." Yoruichi said. She then rammed her palm into Konatsu's stomach, and palm thrusted him backwards dozens of feet away.

Cologne commented "Konatsu, your speed is excellent, but you've got to put more power in your attacks. A ninja both moves and attacks swiftly to ensure success. But in a direct conflict against a powerful enemy, that's very rarely practical. Make sure you fight fast and strong."

"U-Understood, Cologne-sama. Sorry Yoruichi-sama."

Mousse suddenly jumped right from behind Konatsu and came at Yoruichi with lightning speed and lightning power. "Hyeeeeah!

Yoruichi grinned "So you're up next huh?"

Mousse was attacking Yoruichi with dual broadswords, charging at her with incredible velocity, but after about a minute of dodging his lightning weapons, Yoruichi quickly disarmed him and sent him flying back with a roundhouse punch.

However, in the middle of being sent flying back, Mousse shot out two chains out of his robes which wrapped around Yoruichi's wrists to her surprise.

"Urgh!" The chains shocked Yoruichi for a few seconds, but using her mastery of lightning kido, she took control of the electric charge, wrapped the chains further around her wrist, and with a sudden flash step, rammed both electrified chain fists into his chest, sending him sprawling backwards many feet into a rock face."

"Gaaaaah!"

Cologne chastised "Mousse, you've got strategy and a lot of strength and power, but you've got to try and utilize all of it. Don't over think things, use your instincts and let your full power out. You've got plenty of skill Mousse, but if you don't let your instincts guide your reflexes you'll be sure to fail."

Mousse argued while getting up "I'm...trying. It's hard getting a good instinctive rhythm in battle when I use a martial arts style that relies on thousands of weapons."

"So who's next huh?" Yoruichi asked.

Tofu then suddenly flash-stepped above Yoruichi and slashed down with an 3 foot blue energy blade formed from his karate-chop hand position. Yoruichi narrowly ducked to avoid getting hit. Yoruichi swung her leg to catch Tofu as he was falling down. As Tofu's other hand shot out, Yoruichi's kick rammed into his side and sent him flying backwards. However he jumped back to his feet after a few seconds, rubbing his rib, which was slightly fractured.

Cologne called out "Tofu-san, you skills and speed are great, but your lack of recent hands-on training has left your defense very flawed. Try to keep that in mind when getting in close combat."

Tofu smiled and nodded seriously "I'll keep that in mind."

Yoruichi started a grin. "It's not like I didn't pay for it as well." She raised her left forearm which looked uncontrolled. "You managed to get one of my pressure points on my arm seconds before I smashed you away."

Tofu smiled "Oh really, I forgot about that while being sent flying." He then put his hand on his rib, with his hand glowing with spiritual energy, and immediately pushed the fracture back into place and mended it.

Yoruichi smiled "You guys are too much." She thought to herself "Ichigo, Ranko, Uryuu, Ranma, Chad, Konatsu, Tofu, Mousse, Orihime, and all the others that follow their path. How powerful will this generation of warriors be?"

…,

(34 hours passed)

Ryoga was attacking Urahara with a vicious assault on both the ground and the air. While Urahara was forced to dodge most blows, for Ryoga in pure raw power had already surpassed Urahara without him releasing Benihime, it was clear that Ryoga was expending more energy than Urahara was. After dodging a massive blow from Ryoga by moving to the side, Urahara jumped, balanced on his sword and kicked out at Ryoga's chest. Ryoga tried to block by raising his knee, but he wasn't able to do it in time, sending him flying backwards and rubbing his stomach

Happosai chastised "Ryoga, remember, you've got to find a way to balance your martial arts skills with your weapons skills. When you wielded you umbrella, it almost never worked, but now you have a weapon that utilizes your full strength. Still, it's a double edged sword in a way. While the mass of your weapon is something you and only you can wield properly, its mass keeps your martial art techniques off balance. You have to compensate!"

"Easier said than done, old man." Ryoga muttered.

"My turn!" Ranma said as he appeared and came at Urahara with his weapon.

Urahara and Ranma continuously exchanged blows, both with the exchange of sword strikes and with the exchange of kicks and fists. It was obvious that Ranma's fists had far more power than Urahara's, but the rest of Urahara's movements were near flawless.

Ranma complemented "Damn, your good Urahara-san. Heh, it's always a challenge when you're fighting an opponent that actually is as smart as you. And it's a bit of a relief when it's not someone a thousand years old."

"~Why thank you, Ranma~ Your not bad yourself!" Urahara said as he thrusted with his blade forward with massive spiritual pressure, which Ranma barely was able to block, but it sent him flying backwards into a rock face.

Happosai gladly criticized Ranma, "Ranma, your balance with weapon and fist is good, real good, but it could still use some improvement if you ask me. Remember to concentrate on your power of ki and spiritual power to deflect your enemies attacks with ease instead of taking them head on. Your greatest ability is to turn the common powerful warriors and make them feel like talentless hacks with little effort. Not that you could ever do it with me of course but-"

"Shut up old freak, I don't need a lecture. This guy's an exceptional counter attack fighter as well, so its not exactly something simple."

"Then you're just going to have to try harder, young whelp!" Happosai complained annoyingly.

Ranma smiled as he got up and said out loud "You guys want me to try harder, I'll give you harder!" Suddenly he ran toward Urahara with near lighting speed, then at the last second, flashstepped a mere foot away from him, and slashed past Urahara's defense, sending him flying backwards. "Uhhhh!" Urahara said, not expecting this much resistance even with his sword unreleased.

He then smiled, pushed forward from his sandals, and came right back at Ranma "Very good. Let's see how far I can push you!"

…,

(46 hours from start)

Konatsu was breathing hard. Doing her private training with Yoruichi was taking everything it had from him. Even though he was used to enormous stamina, like the others, it still wasn't enough to master Yoruichi's technique during such short period

Yoruichi spoke with a quiet voice "Is that really... all you have?" Yoruichi tried to sound tough given the circumstances, but giving Konatsu training after the second day of training, Yoruichi was a little tired herself. Konatsu's spiritual pressure was raising the fastest, but it was low compared to the others to begin with. Tofu was slowly but steadily growing, but what was scary was his skill and techniques combined with his already fairly powerful pressure. Mousse's power was increasing, but he seemed to not really grasp his real power yet, and was lacking in both strength and speed to a small degree. However, even with that, he was already a very dangerous foe.

"Yoruichi-sama...please forgive me. I know I'm not progressing as much as the others. It seems I lack the will and experience."

Yoruichi shook her head "You don't lack the will Konatsu, you just need to find it. I know that this will be beyond difficult, and I know you lack the relentless will that your friends have developed from constantly fighting. But you'll find it, so long as you remember who your fighting for."

Konatsu closed his eyes and said, "Ukyo-sama." He then opened them and said "I'm ready."

…,

(Meanwhile)

Ranko was taking deep breaths after the 2nd day of training just ended, even though it had already been an hour since the training stopped.

"Jeez... Kintora doesn't let up does he? Damn arrogant tiger."

There were bruises and scratches all over her body. She was mostly naked inside a hot spring Tessai prepared with healing properties, but even that wasn't getting back her energy quick enough.

Ranko looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. "I thought I would be able to master this training easy, just like I always do. But I guess the toughest challenges are the ones you set up for yourself. Jeez, Kintora's relentless power and weapon changes. He's not the most powerful opponent I've faced but...It feels like it somehow. Like a strain has been put on my soul's ability to fight, and without my hollow powers, it makes that strain 10 times more apparent. Not to mention he knows my moves far better than a lot of opponents, with the exception of pops. Jeez."

"Uhh...Ranma?" a voice from behind her.

Ranko's eyes widened and she instinctively through her bath bucket in the direction of the voice, yelling "Ryoga!"

The bucket hit Ryoga, who was right behind the rocks near the pool. "OW!"

Ranko yelled "Jeez, what the hell do you think you're doing, are ya some kind of pervert now? Wait, stupid question. Anyway, if you accidentally see my body I really couldn't care, but if you're actually spying on me, that's Kuno level creepy." Ranko hid her breasts under the water while waiting for a response.

Ryoga got out of hiding and apologized "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Ranko! It's just that...I thought that this was the best and last time I might be able to do this."

Ranko was confused "Do what? What the hell are you talking about?"

Ryoga swallowed and said "Closure. From...that incident with the fishing rod of love."

Ranko's face paled "You...you've gotta be kidding...you want to talk about...th-th-th-that DAY!"

Ryoga said hesitantly "Yeah. Well, and also...overall what's between us."

Ranko was beyond panic. This was officially to her do-not-touch-this-incident-ever-again territory.

"WHY! Are you kidding me? Yeah, okay, I remember it allright, and there's no way you'll hear me talk about it ever again, so don't worry about Akane or Akari finding out all the details." Ranko replied as urgently as possible.

Ryoga pressed forward and said admittedly, "That's what I came for at first but...now that I think about it, I think it's time we actually TALKED about what happened that day."

"Oh god no." Ranko thought to herself as she blushed.

"Ranko...the reason I didn't really go through with killing you that day is because...I really did believe you when you said what you did, even though it was mostly fake. That you 'love me so much you that you'd give your life to make me happy.' I really started thinking you as part girl that day, outside and inside. And in some way or another, it meant something to me. Maybe...it still does."

Ranko's eyes grew, and she said to Ryoga incredulously, "You can't be serious? Are you trying to say you-?"

Ryoga shouted angrily "I don't know alright Ranma!" forgetting to use his female name out of force of habit.

After taking a deep breath and calming his nerves for a second, he said "It's just that...I'm not made of stone...and while you were mostly a hate and anger causing aspect of my life, you were still significant... both as my rival as a guy...and as a rival and something else as a girl. I still hated you, but at times...it almost felt like concern."

Ranko couldn't believe this. She yelled "Are you trying to tell me you had some kind of antagonism crush on the female side of me? Is that when you cried when you thought I got weak because of Happosai? Are you seriously confessing to me right before trying to get back Akari?"

Ryoga insisted in a panicked voice, "It's not that those feelings are what I want know! It's not, I swear! ...I just want to know the whole story! So we can both move on!"

Ryoga continued "Why Ranma? Why were you all over me that day? I know you have way too strong a will to be hoodwinked by a stupid spell like that! Why did you profess love to me even when I was about to kill you!"

Ranko said indignantly, "You can't call that me! I was even trying to hurt Akane when I was like that, with pure anger in my eyes. That couldn't possibly be me!"

Ryoga argued, well aware of the events of Ranko's origin thanks to Akane, "Isn't that a trait the dark side of your female personality shared? Huh 'Ranko'? Don't think that's an excuse!"

Ranko was silent and had her face turned away from Ryoga for an entire minute. Then she started shouting "Goddammit. GODDAMMIT RYOGA, are you the stupidest guy alive? What is this, some kind of sick revenge? Well all right, you want an answer, you're going to pay for it in full."

Ranko immediately got out of the pool stark naked and walked right up to Ryoga.

Ryoga panicked, falling to the ground and trying to avert his eyes "Ahhhh! Put your clothes back on Ranko, haven't you developed any shame?"

Ranko said vindictively "Ohhhh no! Were way past shame! You're looking at me right here, right now, knowing you dragged me into this stroll down memory lane, and knowing full well that I used to be a guy!"

Ranko forced Ryoga to look at her face. Ryoga swallowed, not knowing how dead he was, or in how many ways.

After a few seconds of silence, Ranko shouted in his face, "Fine Ryoga! Fine. Guess what? You were right. The fishing rod of love wouldn't have worked on me that well if it wasn't for the fact those feelings...existed already. And they most certainly wouldn't have worked if I wasn't a real girl. Well apparently, even back then, I was already a real guy AND a real girl."

Ryoga was silent for nearly a minute "You..mean-?"

"YES! Alright. I had a tiny crush on you allright? Deep down, really deep down, this body...is a tiny bit straight for guys." Ranko grinded her teeth, thinking this was the most uncomfortable thing she ever had to admit.

"You...had a crush on..." suddenly it started to become clear to him.

"That's right Ryoga. Not Kuno, not Mousse...YOU!"

"W-Why?" Whatever Ryoga was expecting, he was not expecting this. Or prepared for it.

"I don't know!" she said desperately. "Maybe out of pity cause I helped ruin your life, maybe your attitude, maybe cause were weren't a total jackass all the time. Or maybe because, like you, you were always such an annoying part of my life!"

Ryoga was exasperated, his face pale "Those...are the reasons? Is that why you teased me all the time? With your feminine wiles and tricks every now and then?"

"In short, YES!" she screamed. Then she finally turned around away from Ryoga, put a towel around her crouched body, and stayed silent.

Ryoga was startled beyond belief. For three minutes he just didn't speak, until he said "So, all this time, we were both unwittingly in-"

Ranko finished his sentence without looking at him "-A crazy romantic hate duet for two, while at the same time trying to get the same woman of our dreams to like us."

She then started adding a lot of sarcasm in her voice instead of just anger. "Isn't it ironic? You never understood that me and Akane were in a love-hate kind of relationship. To be fair, neither did I until I had some time to think about it but...You were only concerned with the love aspect with yourself and Akane. But at the same time, we were in a complete hate based relationship all along."

After hearing this, Ryoga was ashamed he had put Ranko in this position "Ranko, I'm sorry. Really I-"

Ranko's voice sounded tired "Forget it Ryoga, just...forget it. Nothing else needs to be said. Just consider that day" Ranko swallowed ..."something that would have never happened if we were just guys and rivals."

"Okay." Ryoga interrupted, eager to get that part of it out of the way.

Ranma continued "and... if we had never meant Akane and..." Ranko hesitated. In truth, because of Ryoga and Akane constant abuse, there was this one iota of doubt about Akane that actually spawned a hate for Akane, even though Ranko hated the fact that it once existed...but not anymore, even though the feelings for Ryoga still persisted, she had finally resolved all that hate behind her.

Ranko finally finished "-it's just something we have to live with. However I suggest we never fight girl on guy again."

Ryoga slowly nodded "I can agree with that." Ranma's talk on a different outcome without Akane and Ranma as a girl and himself...didn't horrify him anymore. It was weird but...he could now actually imagine it. Ryoga thought to himself "What if when I had finally found Ranma in Nerima, I hadn't gotten adopted by Akane instantly? Face it Ryoga, there was no 'instant' you fell in love with her face, her attitude, who she was. I became infatuated by her because of her kindness towards a little black pig, and her allowing me to sleep in her bed. It was one out of a thousand chance that I became infatuated with her. When I first saw her, I didn't think anything of her. Did Ranma feel something the very first time he met Akane? ...damn, he did didn't he."

He then thought even further. "What would have happened then? If it hadn't been for Akane, could I have kept up my anger for female Ranma so intense...could I have eventually fallen for his female side?"

"Ryoga," came Ranko's voice.

Ryoga suddenly looked up at Ranko.

"Now", she said as she turned her head back to Ryoga with a mischievous smile, "would you like to touch my boobs?"

"What!" Ryoga screamed in nervous horror and tried to back away crawling. But Ranko jumped behind him.

Ranko continued seductively "C'mon Ryoga. You know you want to. This might be your one last chance."

Ryoga kept on trying to back away the other way "R-R-Ranko! Try to control yourself! Ahhh!" he yelled as he backed up into the hot spring.

Ranko suddenly said in good humored laughter "Hahahaha! Oh man, it works every time doesn't it? Hahahaha!"

After a few seconds, Ryoga lifted his head out of the water and yelled "Damn you Ranma!"

Then suddenly before he could react, Ranko grabbed Ryoga's chin gently and softly kissed Ryoga straight on the lips.

After a few seconds, Ranko released her kiss and stared at Ryoga, their faces just a few inches away from Ryoga.

Ryoga looked more stunned then he ever did in his life. Absolutely petrified.

"Ranko...you-"

Ranko's face was completely unreadable. The sheer amount of emotions on her face were too intense to comprehend.

Ranko finally said "I-I wanted to pretend just for a second Ryoga. To put the 'what ifs' finally to an end. I put all my romantic feelings for you to rest with that kiss. But I guess we can finally say...we had our moment Ryoga." She then said with a smile.

Ryoga was speechless for a very long time, but slowly he smiled warmly and said "Yeah...we did didn't we?"

Ranko nodded and said with an assertive voice as she started putting back on her shinigami uniform "Ryoga, listen to me. No matter what happens, Ranma's still going to be your rival, and I'm going to still mess with you a lot, and vice-verca. We're going to save the ones we love the most, cause in the end, we love them more than life itself. So Ryoga..." Ranko could no longer keep up a strong face and said with a deep sadness on her face "...I'm really sorry all the trouble I've caused in your life."

Ryoga scratched his head shyly and said slowly said "Ranma, for what it's worth, I...I don't regret meeting you."