Ain't No Day At The Beach

by Zukone


Hippity hop, don't talk back
Who cares, you already know.
Chapter 1

Ain't No Day at The Beach

A serene Akane looks up after hearing some sand and having her eyes blocked from the sun. A shadow is cast on her face. She sees Ryoga opening up a red and black umbrella. She smiles. Ryoga feels heart palpitations. For once his curse comes in handy (He does forget the real advantage of his pig form for a brief moment). He lays a mat down and sits on it. The shade hits both him and Akane as planned.

"Thank you." Akane says, still smiling.

Ryoga looks down bashfully. "Anything for you, Akane." he says wistfully. There is a little bit of silence. Ryoga, it seems, has something to say but can't quite get it out.

In the distance they can hear Soun calling out for Ranma because they need one more person to play a real game of beach volley. This catches Akane's eyes.

"They look like they're having fun." she says and then gets up. "I think I'll join them."

Ryoga grabs her shoulder and blurts out, "Akane, wait," She turns around and looks at him dead in the eyes. He is lost in her innocent gaze, allowing himself to forget who he is for a moment. Suddenly he realizes that his hand is on her shoulder. He fumbles and lets go just as suddenly as he grabbed onto her. The pause is broken and he speaks, "A..Akane"

Akane waits patiently for him to continue.

Ryoga turns around hunched over and presses his index fingers together and then his thumbs, twiddling. He turns his body towards her. With his head still downcast he stutters. "I.. uh.. well."

"mm hmm..." Akane asks.

"You see Akane.." Ryoga turns in a different direction, his thoughts also doing the same, "Do you like me?"

"Sure Ryoga I like you... "

Ryoga's eyes light up "Me too, I like you too .. and.. well," He continues awkwardly not realizing Akane hadn't finished.

"You're a good friend and you're always around when I need you"

His eyes widen in realization. "Oh.." He thinks to himself about how his plans are being unraveled. He figures that if he doesn't tell her soon, she will think that he doesn't want any thing more than friendship.

Akane is too busy talking to realized the anguished look on Ryoga's face ".. well not just when I need you. Even after Ranma picks on you, I'm amazed at how you are always ready to help him when you think he's found a cure." Akane rests her eyes on Ryoga, her eyes filled with heartfelt appreciation.

He stretches his arm and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah that's me, a good friend." Ryoga laughs out loud nervously, while mentally kicking himself. He had just sealed his fate as "just friends" with Akane. That's just how most of his confessions go. This is the very thing he did NOT want to happen. And just like that, it did.

There is another long pause.

This young man's thoughts are racing. "I don't want to be stuck in Ranma's shadow. She's so kind hearted that she can't see my actions for what they are. If I don't do something soon, she'll never understand my feelings. " He began to think about how impossible it was for him to ever get the right words in. Words Words Words. Always getting in the way. Even when he would say the right words, Akane would take them the wrong way. What is he to do... What is he to do?

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Akane asks.

Ryoga closes his eyes and shakes his head. Desperate to show Akane what kind of "like" he means once and for all, Ryoga now musters up all of his courage and straightens up his back. He opens his eyes and says her name firmly.

He blushes when his eyes meet her warm and friendly face. He stares. It is the first time he had directly looked at her since he beckoned her not to go. He realizes that she isn't as far away as she was before. His burst of emotion had left them closer together with her facing him. He blushes harder when a thought comes to his mind. They looked like a couple. All that was left was a rosy frame to capture this moment. Anyone's imagination could easily add pastel flowers around them.

"I wanted to say... I mean, I wanted to tell you..." Ryoga starts.

Ryoga can feel the words getting in the way again, and his mouth clamps closed. " No more words," he decides. He closes his eyes and moves closer to Akane.

Akane looks at him confused as the small gap between them closes.

Ryoga gets close enough and his lips part ready to taste a sweet victory. *oof* Ryoga is cut short by a flying volleyball. It leaves him flat on his back.

"Are you OK" Akane asks reaching out towards him. "Sorry 'bout that" yelled an approaching female voice. Akane whirls around to see Ranma on his way. She, sick of all the men ogling her while playing volleyball, now wears a T-shirt tied in the front over her swimsuit. "I guess I don't know my own strength." she continues.

"Honestly Ranma, you could be a little more careful." Akane retorts.

"I said I was sorry. Geez, what more do you want?"

"RANMA YOU JERK!!" Ryoga shouts as he gets up in a huff. One can see a red moon shape on his cheek from where the ball hit him.

"If you weren't so busy lost in your own little world, maybe you woulda seen it coming." Ranma bites back, fists ready for a fight.

"Just what were you two talkin' bout any ...?" Ranma dodges an oncoming blow. "..way? Ha. You're too slow. And you call yourself a martial artist" Ranma says with a smirk. "'Kane can do better 'n you. Least when she hits me she doesn't miss."

"Ranma!!!!" The two voices say in unison. A cross forms on Akane's forehead.

"Figure that. I finally compliment the tomboy's martial arts ability and she gets mad." Ranma spews out while dodging Ryoga's angry, but unfocussed punch.

The cross on Akane's forehead had gotten bigger due to Ranma's comment.

Ranma notices and takes her leave to higher ground, safe from the queen of all mallets. Ryoga follows, throwing stray bandanas everywhere. Akane, determined not to be left behind, pursues the sure to be trail of destruction at ground level.

"That's it Ranma, fight for Akane" yells Soun, who caught wind of the battle from the very beginning. Genma, now human, echoes in from under the tiki bar, "I knew you had it in you, boy."

"Butt OUT!" Ranma yells at them, simultaneously collapsing the roof on his father and moving onto the next roof. She looks at Akane who is still on the ground. " Good she can't mallet me from down there." the boy figures before going into a full rebellion. "I ain't fighting for no uncute, violent, non skilled, martial artist wanna be, tomb~..." A mallet knocks him in the head.

"FINE!" Akane shouts at her from the ground after having thrown the mallet. "Then don't fight for me! Who asked you to anyway?!"

"Oh yeah. Well, I wouldn't" Ranma shouts back, mentally pondering how she shot the mallet without him noticing. He thought that only worked in close range. He just has to be more careful from now on.

"IDIOT" she hollers at him before storming off.

Ranma, although a little miffed, can't be too concerned about that now; there are more pressing matters than arguing with her. Ranma recovers his focus barely in time to dodge Ryoga's breaking point technique.

"Take that back Ranma" he shouts in a blind rage.

"Why does it matter to you what I say to her? It's not like you like her or anythin'" Ryoga's eyes widen, slightly embarrassed. Ranma scanned quickly for Akane and when she found no trace of the girl he continued "Technically, she's MY fiancee after all." Ranma moves from roof too roof, teasing Ryoga on the way. Ryoga faithfully destroys them with a bandanna or a technique or a fist full of energy.

"Don't tell me you still like her?" Ranma asks.

"Shut up Ranma!" he says as he destroys the surf board shop.

"You do don'tcha. And here I thought that was just a phase," she said while she gracefully hopped backwards on to the roof of an icy stand. Ryoga destroyed that also pursuit, pouring ice on top of himself. He emerges as a dizzy little pork chop. Ranma had avoided the crash. In fact she planned it that way. Looking down safely from the rooftop of an umbrella rental stand, she smiles.

Ranma had won both the verbal and physical battle. She ponders this victory. If Ryoga hadn't been so unfocused, it might have turned out differently. That's pretty much a redundancy in every battle. But Ranma could always count on those buttons that triggered erratic emotions in Ryoga.

Even so, she was a little concerned. She didn't expect it to be such a short and easy victory. Odd how those buttons worked so well to throw him off today. It was obvious to her from the beginning how one sided the fight would be so she didn't give Ryoga as hard a time as she could have. She didn't even try to get any real hits in. That would have been unfair.

"Bueeeeee," the little black pig exclaims bringing Ranma back into focus. The pig, recovered from his initial shock, is furious. Ranma jumps down to gloat, er.. take a closer look. The pig charges as if he were a bull ready to gore Ranma. Ranma easily picked the little black lump up. He held him at eye level by the collar.

"You didn't tell me what you were doin' with Akane." Ranma asks poking him a couple of times. This only served to make the pig angrier. The pig scrabbles to attack, but he only succeeds in rocking himself. Ranma chuckles at the sight. Her eyes brighten as she mocked enlightenment. "Maybe, you were going to tell her about... P-chan." The pig gets closer with its violent rocking and Ranma has to hold him away from her body to avoid getting scratched.. The pig dangles helplessly.

Ranma's face changes a little. "You weren't gonna try and kiss her were you?" The pig's eyes went wild at the statement and he jerks around just enough to get a bite in.

"Ouch" Ranma said letting him go. "D-mn pig"

The pig runs to the back of a hut, emerging as Ryoga (miraculously clothed) moments later with a pot of hot water. Ryoga's profile reveals an exposed fang. He smiles in a rare way. It is rare because it radiates an eerie calmness.

Ranma took an immediate defensive stand. What happened to the unbalanced, hot headed opponent of a couple of moments ago. This new calm on Ryoga's face didn't exactly make her comfortable.

"I've figured it out, Ranma," Ryoga says knowingly before hurling the pot at his enemy.

Ranma knocks the pot down but not without getting splashed by the hot water. "Figured what out?"

Ryoga laughs, "You were afraid..."

"I ain't afraid of nofin!" Ranma scoffed.

"You're were afraid of what would happen if I kissed Akane."

Ranma pauses for just a second. He bursts out laughing. "She'll pound ya for sure,"He boasts. "There really ain't no mystery to that. Why should I be 'fraid of that? It's not like I like her or nofin'."

"Maybe you don't like her, but that doesn't stop you from trying to hog her all to yourself."

"Looks who's talkin' porky. Who'd want to... I mean who in their right mind would want to..."

"I do."

Ranma is a taken aback slightly at Ryoga's sudden forwardness but he bounces back quick enough for it to go unnoticed. "Yeah well, You can have her... It's not like you have a real chance."

"You act all confident. But where is Akane now? She's not even here. Even if she wasn't on your side, she used to be around a lot more often for your fights."

Ranma takes a look around to observe the situation. This is about the time that other people started to show up. If she was gonna show up, Akane would have been there by now.

"Awe. She's just mad at me." Ranma said. "You can't really count that."

"Just think about it. How long is she going to wait for you to change, or to say nice things to her. You've been messing up too much and too many times. Things are starting to change. Maybe her feelings are starting to change too. If you mess up bad enough, she won't like you as a friend either, and that'll be fine with me."

"It's not like I'd miss her."

"Who'd want a fiancee like you? You don't even care if she's gone or not! Che... You're not good enough for her."

"Oh and I suppose you are? At least I'm not sleeping in her bed and trying to get freebie's without her knowing. Face the facts bacon breath, you're done for when she finds out about your curse!"

Ryoga looks down and then lifts his head slightly. "What if..." he starts a little more hopeful than usual, "What if she already knows?"

"...If she did," Ranma begins after some thought. "you'd be dead."

"We'll just see. I plan on telling her myself." Ryoga says, now more determined than ever to tell Akane about his curse and then about his feelings. "Just don't interfere."

"I wouldn't if you had any real chance."

"You'll sing a different tune when it turns out she likes me better than you. I'll name our kids after you, Ranma."

"We're in the middle of a fight and you're talkin' bout stupid stuff." he says irritated.

"Avoiding the issue. huh. You didn't even answer my challenge."

"What challenge?" Ranma smirks. "I'm already gonna kick your butt, if that's what you mean," he says launching a punch . He was happy that they could get on with with a serious fight instead harping on a dead topic.

"Give me some time with Akane. That is IF you're sure you don't like her." Ryoga says after catching Ranma's punch and struggling with it.

"You keep talking like I'd care or somefin'" Ranma says yanking his hand away slightly more irritated, "OK. I ain't getting involved to prove to you just how much I don't care, but just get one thing straight. If I wanted Akane, she'd be mine."

Shampoo glomps onto Ranma before Ryoga gets a chance to reply. "Ranma no want violent pervert girl." she states for him.

Ryoga, frustrated because he was interrupted by a girl who, if Ranma wanted, Ranma could have, glares at the boy homicidally. A familiar voice cuts in before he gets a chance to, however.

"No." Akane states plainly, "Ranma doesn't." Akane fist is clenched and her bangs cover her eyes. She continues not any more or any less sweetly. "After all, I'd be his if he wanted me."

Shampoo hissed, "Ranma never choose you."

"Wait Akane..," Ranma interjects.

"Why wait if I'm not going anywhere?" she says lifting her head. Her statement seemed to imply double meaning. Her fist had loosened like she was being freed from an invisible chain. As if on command, the wind tossles her hair and reveals smiling eyes that matched her mouth. Both are a bit too curved all the way around.

Ranma doesn't take this as a sign that she is happy. Under normal circumstances, given that he was wearing Shampoo as a second skin and also what he had just said and... well... he knew would be walking a tight rope and skating on thin ice ready to plunge into a terrible abyss. Akane didn't mallet him yet, but she could any minute. He had seen her pull stunts like this before. She pretended to not care at all and then, WHACK, he'da bought a one way ticket to the outer hemisphere. Ranma knew he would have to tread softly. Trying to pull Shampoo off, he was desperately searching for something to say. The right words to say. He had to say something right?

Akane, though is the one to speak.

"I only came back because I wanted hear what Ryoga had to say. It seemed important," she explains matteroffactly. Ryoga's eyes light up, overtaking a bit of the anxiety he felt.

"How long were you standing there?" Ranma asks hoping that she was around long enough to hear some of Ryoga's antics.

Ryoga looks at Akane curious for her response as well. What if she had heard what he said. About him liking her, naming their supposed children after Ranma, and God no, not about him being P-chan.

"Long enough to know how you feel." Akane replies.

"I didn't mean that, Akane." He is quick to clarify.

"Then you DO like me?" she asks curious. Shampoo, angry at such a ridiculous notion latches on tighter.

"No, I mean yes.. I mean no... I mean.. I mean... " Ranma does what is instinctual when in danger. He raises his arm to shield himself from an oncoming blow. He waits.

No blow, not hit, not even a flaring aura?

When he realizes that no mallet, punch, or other violent physical attack is on its way, he emerges slowly from behind his arm.

"I don't need any explanations, Ranma" she says almost cheerfully.

"So you're not mad?" he asks more relaxed letting his arm down slowly.

"No," she says, "Why would I be mad?" She is still smiling. All features U shaped. "Is that all?" she asks, as if he had spent her time stating the obvious.

Ranma is not really sure what to make of the situation. Akane usually hit him by now, giving him a good reason to be angry with her. But things were a little different, weird even. Ranma is almost at a complete loss for words.

"Uh... I guess" he finally says.

Akane nods at him, dismissing herself from the conversation. She, still smiling, turns to Ryoga. "Let's go." she says grabbing him by the hand.

"OK" he replies, willingly being dragged off..

"Hey" Ranma says chasing after Ryoga. He finally manages to pull Shampoo off of him. "I thought we were in the middle of something."

"I forgive you Ranma." Ryoga says waving.

Ranma was ready to follow when he heard Ryoga's fading voice, "Don't forget our deal." He froze in his steps, his pride to strong to allow him to pursue. Ranma turns around more irritated and says, "Yeah, well, who needs 'em anyway. Stupid Akane."

His eyes meet a couple of other Nermian weirdoes. He backs away. Everyone is looking at him strangely. Ranma stares back at them blankly.

"What?" he asks tending to something that had been irritating him for a while. He was trying to adjust an uncomfortable strap... Strap? his mind asks in a panicked state. He looks down and realizes how utterly ridiculous he looks with a female bottom and a T tied showing off his "midriff."

There is a flash.

"It's your fashion sense" Nabiki says behind the lens of a camera. A couple more shots are fired. "Stunning."

He undoes the knot in a rush to cover himself more fully. He is ready to kill Nabiki.

Soun jumps in, more concerned about Ranma's last statement than his attire. It's a dramatic scene, a stream of tears runs down his face steadily as he cries out to the boy, "Ranma how could you betray my Akane" Ranma backs away from him trying to explain. A strong hand grips his shoulder. He looks back to see another brooding figure. "I'm ashamed to call you my son." Genma says referring to Shampoo being next to him. "You need more discipline!" He slaps the boy on the back and sends him flying towards the water.

He doesn't quite make it to the water, but bounces a couple of times on the sand. "This ain't no day at the beach," he thinks to himself after getting up from the hard landing.


end chapter 1
Author's Notes

Story Directions Editing stuff

I edited twice. Added some things, changed some things. Still may need more editing, and I haven't started the next chapter yet.

Only god knows where I will take the story next.

The story as a whole, I don't see it being more than 3 chapters, It will be 4 tops, think it will be 2, but the absolute cap will be at 5 chapters, excluding the prologue and epilogue (if any). That all summed up is to say, I don't know.

If I think things are too crowded in Chapter 1, I may break it up.
Go ahead and review! (I think I sounded like an ogre before). I haven't allowed any anon reviews because I believe everyone should stand by what they say. I by no means think anyone should be dishonest. Lay down your opinion or any advice you think will be useful. If you don't have a free fanfiction.net account, you can e-mail me and tell me what you think. Check my profile.