Chapter 8: Naru and Ryoga
Akane and Naru watched amusedly as Ranma and Ryoga worked on variations of the breaking point technique. "What variation can you make of a technique for breaking rocks?" Naru asked.
"Well, if you adapt it to humans." Ranma mused. Naru and Akane looked scared. "Just kidding. Were adapting it to break trees."
"Oh, the poor trees." Akane said in a sarcastically sympathetic voice. "Ranma, how could you?"
"Why trees?" Naru asked.
"Think what happens when a guy is under a tree and it shatters." Ryoga offered.
"Lots of splinters?" Naru asked.
Ranma rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to contribute something to this session get out."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll make you." Ranma said threateningly.
"Try it." Naru smiled challengingly.
Ranma and Ryoga were shocked. What were they supposed to do? Akane would have stormed out if she had been alone. But Naru always came up with a snappy remark.
Naru's challenging grin seemed infectious. Akane soon caught it. While Naru's smile was focused mainly on Ryoga, she turned to Ranma.
Ranma went slightly pink, and this wasn't because he was angry.
"Fine. Stay. We don't care, do we Ryoga?" Ranma finally spluttered. He turned to his friend, who was smiling foolishly at Naru. "Ryoga? Hello, is there someone named Ryoga there?"
Ryoga didn't respond. There was a girl smiling at him. A pretty girl. Sure, she was smiling at him because she had just challenged him to throw her out of a room, but she was smiling at him.
Ranma gave up trying to get a response from him. He went back to glaring at the girls, specifically at Naru because he couldn't quite bring himself to look into Akane's eyes. He was afraid that he might get as dazed as his friend.
Naru grinned, and turned her attention to Ranma. "Do you really hate us that much?" She said, her eyes wide, and filling with false tears. If he hadn't known her as well as he did he would have believed the act.
"Naru." He rolled his eyes.
"Fine then, we'll just go." She gave all the appearances of being hurt and insulted by his thoughtless words. "Akane, it's obvious that they don't want us here." They turned to go out. Just before they left, Naru turned and smirked at something behind Ranma.
Ranma soon found out what it was. Ryoga had snapped out of his daze, and he wasn't exactly happy that Ranma had chased the girls out. The act that Naru had pulled hadn't helped.
Ryoga was not really dumb, just stubborn. He would usually have been able to see that it was an act.
However, usually didn't include when he was just coming out of a "pretty girl smiling at me" daze.
"Sounds like Ranma's getting quite a workout in there." Akane smirked as she listened to the cries of "How dare you hurt Naru's feeling like that" (Ryoga) and "Wait, it's not what it seems" (Ranma).
"Yeah. Ryoga is pretty stubborn." Naru smiled almost dreamily. "And nice." As if she suddenly realized what she was saying she looked sharply at Akane. "I mean, it's nice of him to stand up for me.for us like that."
Akane smiled knowingly, but said nothing.
After listening to the shouting for a moment, Akane asked, "Do you think Ryoga is ever going to figure out it was an act?"
"He will when he calms down. Then he'll go to Ranma begging for forgiveness and they'll be friends again." Naru shrugged. "He's not stupid, just stubborn."
"He likes you." Akane said softly.
Naru sighed. "No he doesn't. He likes." She stopped. "He likes someone else. Ranma told me."
"Who?"
"I'm not aloud to tell you. In fact, it was a bit of an accident that I found out." She grinned. "Ranma let it slip when I was in cursed form. Course, he didn't know it was me."
"When are you going to tell them what your cursed form is?" Akane whispered, smiling evilly.
"When the time is right." Naru's grin was pure mischief. "I have to wait for the moment when it was have the best effect."
"Man, you really like her."
"Shut up."
"I mean, you've never been this obsessive over Akane."
"Shut up!!!"
"You were staring at her like you've never seen anything like her. At least when you liked Akane you were aware of the world around you."
"I SAID SHUT UP RANMA!!!"
Ranma was doing one of the things he did best, getting on some one's nerves. In this case, it was Ryoga he was pestering.
"Whoa, Ryoga, I'm not saying that you shouldn't like her. Hell, she'd be really good for you. I'm just saying that I think that this time, you actually like her, instead of just having a crush on her because she hugged you to her bosom when you were a pig."
"I don't like her." Ryoga said softly. "I love her. You understand?"
"Yeah. But this time, you actually love her. You didn't really love Akane."
"RANMA, WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT ME AND NARU?"
"What about you and me, Ryoga?"
The girls had returned. As soon as they were sure that the fight was over, they had started to wander back to start pestering them again. Fortunately for Ryoga, they had only heard the last sentence that he had yelled at Ranma, so they had no idea what they were talking about.
That is to say, Naru had no idea what they were talking about. Akane knew, and both Ranma and Ryoga could see it by the look on her face.
Ryoga glared at Ranma, looked pleadingly at Akane, then turned to answer Naru.
"What was that about?" She asked.
"Umm."
"Hey Akane, I need to talk to you outside." Ranma grabbed Akane and steered her to the door. As he passed Ryoga he distinctly heard him mutter, "traitor."
Ranma grinned, and pulled Akane out the door.
"What is it?" Asked him coolly when they had covered sufficient distance from the training hall. She had promised Naru she would try not to get to angry at Ranma, but that didn't mean she was going to be nice to him.
"Listen. I didn't come out here to argue with you. I came out here because I wanted to help Ryoga."
Akane raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to HELP someone?"
"Hey, I said I didn't want to argue." Ranma looked a bit peeved. "Please just work with me."
"Go on. I'm listening."
"Do you think Naru likes Ryoga?" Ranma asked hopefully.
Akane could see where this was going. She was surprised. She had never thought Ranma would ever be nice to Ryoga in anyway, much less become friends with him. But here they were, best friends and Ranma was trying to play matchmaker for his lonely friend.
Akane began to rethink her opinion of Ranma. OK, he could be a jerk, but he was nice sometimes.
"Umm, are you going to answer my question Akane?" Ranma asked.
"Huh. Oh. Sorry. Got sidetracked there."
"Well."
Akane grinned. "She likes him, but she'll never admit it."
"And he won't admit he likes her." Ranma said, sighing. "We need to do something to fix them up together."
Akane's stomach did a flip-flop and the "we". She and Ranma were going to play matchmaker for their best friends. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get along.
*Get along with that jerk?* Akane thought. *Never.*
"Umm, Naru doesn't think he likes her because she thinks he likes someone else. Do you know.?"
"Yeah, but how did she find out?" Ranma frowned. "He used to like you."
Akane looked a bit alarmed. "Like me?"
"Calm down. He doesn't anymore. How did she find out?"
"She.er.overheard you while in cursed form." Akane said quickly.
"Oh. OK. Here's the plan."
The boy and the girl in the bushes watched the boy and the girl in front of them talk.
"Do you think it's working?" The boy asked.
"Yes, I think it is." The girl smiled deviously.
Akane and Naru watched amusedly as Ranma and Ryoga worked on variations of the breaking point technique. "What variation can you make of a technique for breaking rocks?" Naru asked.
"Well, if you adapt it to humans." Ranma mused. Naru and Akane looked scared. "Just kidding. Were adapting it to break trees."
"Oh, the poor trees." Akane said in a sarcastically sympathetic voice. "Ranma, how could you?"
"Why trees?" Naru asked.
"Think what happens when a guy is under a tree and it shatters." Ryoga offered.
"Lots of splinters?" Naru asked.
Ranma rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to contribute something to this session get out."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll make you." Ranma said threateningly.
"Try it." Naru smiled challengingly.
Ranma and Ryoga were shocked. What were they supposed to do? Akane would have stormed out if she had been alone. But Naru always came up with a snappy remark.
Naru's challenging grin seemed infectious. Akane soon caught it. While Naru's smile was focused mainly on Ryoga, she turned to Ranma.
Ranma went slightly pink, and this wasn't because he was angry.
"Fine. Stay. We don't care, do we Ryoga?" Ranma finally spluttered. He turned to his friend, who was smiling foolishly at Naru. "Ryoga? Hello, is there someone named Ryoga there?"
Ryoga didn't respond. There was a girl smiling at him. A pretty girl. Sure, she was smiling at him because she had just challenged him to throw her out of a room, but she was smiling at him.
Ranma gave up trying to get a response from him. He went back to glaring at the girls, specifically at Naru because he couldn't quite bring himself to look into Akane's eyes. He was afraid that he might get as dazed as his friend.
Naru grinned, and turned her attention to Ranma. "Do you really hate us that much?" She said, her eyes wide, and filling with false tears. If he hadn't known her as well as he did he would have believed the act.
"Naru." He rolled his eyes.
"Fine then, we'll just go." She gave all the appearances of being hurt and insulted by his thoughtless words. "Akane, it's obvious that they don't want us here." They turned to go out. Just before they left, Naru turned and smirked at something behind Ranma.
Ranma soon found out what it was. Ryoga had snapped out of his daze, and he wasn't exactly happy that Ranma had chased the girls out. The act that Naru had pulled hadn't helped.
Ryoga was not really dumb, just stubborn. He would usually have been able to see that it was an act.
However, usually didn't include when he was just coming out of a "pretty girl smiling at me" daze.
"Sounds like Ranma's getting quite a workout in there." Akane smirked as she listened to the cries of "How dare you hurt Naru's feeling like that" (Ryoga) and "Wait, it's not what it seems" (Ranma).
"Yeah. Ryoga is pretty stubborn." Naru smiled almost dreamily. "And nice." As if she suddenly realized what she was saying she looked sharply at Akane. "I mean, it's nice of him to stand up for me.for us like that."
Akane smiled knowingly, but said nothing.
After listening to the shouting for a moment, Akane asked, "Do you think Ryoga is ever going to figure out it was an act?"
"He will when he calms down. Then he'll go to Ranma begging for forgiveness and they'll be friends again." Naru shrugged. "He's not stupid, just stubborn."
"He likes you." Akane said softly.
Naru sighed. "No he doesn't. He likes." She stopped. "He likes someone else. Ranma told me."
"Who?"
"I'm not aloud to tell you. In fact, it was a bit of an accident that I found out." She grinned. "Ranma let it slip when I was in cursed form. Course, he didn't know it was me."
"When are you going to tell them what your cursed form is?" Akane whispered, smiling evilly.
"When the time is right." Naru's grin was pure mischief. "I have to wait for the moment when it was have the best effect."
"Man, you really like her."
"Shut up."
"I mean, you've never been this obsessive over Akane."
"Shut up!!!"
"You were staring at her like you've never seen anything like her. At least when you liked Akane you were aware of the world around you."
"I SAID SHUT UP RANMA!!!"
Ranma was doing one of the things he did best, getting on some one's nerves. In this case, it was Ryoga he was pestering.
"Whoa, Ryoga, I'm not saying that you shouldn't like her. Hell, she'd be really good for you. I'm just saying that I think that this time, you actually like her, instead of just having a crush on her because she hugged you to her bosom when you were a pig."
"I don't like her." Ryoga said softly. "I love her. You understand?"
"Yeah. But this time, you actually love her. You didn't really love Akane."
"RANMA, WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT ME AND NARU?"
"What about you and me, Ryoga?"
The girls had returned. As soon as they were sure that the fight was over, they had started to wander back to start pestering them again. Fortunately for Ryoga, they had only heard the last sentence that he had yelled at Ranma, so they had no idea what they were talking about.
That is to say, Naru had no idea what they were talking about. Akane knew, and both Ranma and Ryoga could see it by the look on her face.
Ryoga glared at Ranma, looked pleadingly at Akane, then turned to answer Naru.
"What was that about?" She asked.
"Umm."
"Hey Akane, I need to talk to you outside." Ranma grabbed Akane and steered her to the door. As he passed Ryoga he distinctly heard him mutter, "traitor."
Ranma grinned, and pulled Akane out the door.
"What is it?" Asked him coolly when they had covered sufficient distance from the training hall. She had promised Naru she would try not to get to angry at Ranma, but that didn't mean she was going to be nice to him.
"Listen. I didn't come out here to argue with you. I came out here because I wanted to help Ryoga."
Akane raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to HELP someone?"
"Hey, I said I didn't want to argue." Ranma looked a bit peeved. "Please just work with me."
"Go on. I'm listening."
"Do you think Naru likes Ryoga?" Ranma asked hopefully.
Akane could see where this was going. She was surprised. She had never thought Ranma would ever be nice to Ryoga in anyway, much less become friends with him. But here they were, best friends and Ranma was trying to play matchmaker for his lonely friend.
Akane began to rethink her opinion of Ranma. OK, he could be a jerk, but he was nice sometimes.
"Umm, are you going to answer my question Akane?" Ranma asked.
"Huh. Oh. Sorry. Got sidetracked there."
"Well."
Akane grinned. "She likes him, but she'll never admit it."
"And he won't admit he likes her." Ranma said, sighing. "We need to do something to fix them up together."
Akane's stomach did a flip-flop and the "we". She and Ranma were going to play matchmaker for their best friends. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get along.
*Get along with that jerk?* Akane thought. *Never.*
"Umm, Naru doesn't think he likes her because she thinks he likes someone else. Do you know.?"
"Yeah, but how did she find out?" Ranma frowned. "He used to like you."
Akane looked a bit alarmed. "Like me?"
"Calm down. He doesn't anymore. How did she find out?"
"She.er.overheard you while in cursed form." Akane said quickly.
"Oh. OK. Here's the plan."
The boy and the girl in the bushes watched the boy and the girl in front of them talk.
"Do you think it's working?" The boy asked.
"Yes, I think it is." The girl smiled deviously.